MARCUS FRIEDER, President 

General Silk Importing Co. Inc. 

Yokohama Shanghai Shameen, Canton Milan Lyons 

Raw, Thrown, Spun and Dyed Silks 
Warps, Insulating Silk 

Prepared in any standard form of package 



Na 



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Cumberla 




Class _T S q^ ^. 
Book .T? 7 - 



Copyright >i?- 



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CjQEOilGKI DEFQSm 



GENERAL OFFICES 

FOUR-FORTY FOURTH AVENUE 
NEW YORK CITY 



RAW SILK 

A Practical Hand-Book for the Buyer 



by 
LEO DURAN 



A STUDY OF RAW SILK PRODUCTION AND FILATURES IN EUROPEAN AND 
ASIATIC COUNTRIES; THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS ON ALL THE GREAT 
MARKETS OF THE WORLD; A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE 
MANAGEMENT OF AN ITALIAN FILATURE; HOW TO ESTAB- 
LISH AGENCIES AND INSPECT RAW SILK IN CHINA AND 
JAPAN; CLASSIFICATION OF EUROPEAN AND 

ASIATIC SILKS, AND COMPARATIVE PRICES; * 

LIST OF LEADING HOUSES IN THE 
WORLD DEALING IN RAW SILK, 
AND OTHER FEATURES. 



With many illustrations 



2nd Revised Edition 



SILK PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1123 Broadway 

NEW YORK 

1921 



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COPYRIGHTED, I921. 

By the silk PUBLISHING COMPANY 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



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To the Silk Students of America 

This book is respectfully dedicated in the 
hope that it will give them a more intelligent 
perception regarding the whole subject qf raw 
silk, both as regards countries of production 
and of manufacture. 

Leo Duran, 



FOREWORD 

SO much has been written on the general subject of 
the production and manufacture of silk that it 
would be superfluous to add anything along these lines. 
The works of Pariset, Vignon, Silbermann, Hedde and 
Rayner contain a general survey of the production and 
handling of raw, throw^n, dyed and manufactured silks, 
including silk history from the most ancient times. 

There is, however, no book in any language devoted 
solely to raw silk, written by a specialist who has 
studied the subject thoroughly in the dififerent countries 
of production. Furthermore, business conditions since 
the latest standard works were published have changed 
to such an extent that a revision of this part of the 
subject is timely. 

This study will prove valuable to those people en- 
gaged in the silk trade everywhere, for they will have 
a chance to learn how silk is handled in all countries 
of the world, thus obviating the necessi^ty of going 
abroad to acquire this information. 

The Author. 



THE success of the first edition of RAW SILK, which is 
still the onl}^ book of its kind in the English language, 
has prompted us to issue a second edition. 

We have asked the author to complete his study of the 
world's silk production, and owing to many- changes in 
business conditions, it has been found necessary to revise 
some parts of the book and add further information. We 
believe that our readers, past, present and future, will find 
the work even more valuable than the previous volume. 
The wide interest shown in the first edition has made pos- 
sible the publication of this, the second. 

The Editors. 



CONTENIS 

PART I. THE STO'RY OF RAW SILK 

PAGE. 

I. The Mulberry and the Butterfly 13 

11. Scientific Life of the Silkworm 20 

IIL Domestic and Wild Cocoons 28 

IV. Growth and Development of the Modern Filature... 35 

V. Conditioning, Testing and Boiling Off 44 

VL Percentage System of Inspection 51 

PART IL RAW SILK IN EUROPE 

L The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 57 

IL Sericulture and Filatures of France 78 

III. Lyons, the City of Silks 80 

IV. The Levant 80 

PART III. RAW SILK IN THE FAR EAST 

I. Raw Silk Inspection in the Far East 95 

IL Japan: 

I. Japanese Filatures 102 

IL The Silk Exchange 108 

HI. Silk Waste 110 

IV. Re-reels 112 

V. The Crop and How it is Manipulated 115 

VL Inspection 119 

VII. Private Chops 122 

VIII. Is the Standardization of Japan Raw Silk 

Possible ? 123 

IX. How to Improve Japanese Raw Silks 125 



8 Contents 

PAGE 

III. China : 

I. The Shanghai Market 137 

11. Raw Silk in the Canton Province 141 

III. Sericulture in Indo-China 148 

PART IV. THE NEW YORK MARKET 

I. Improving the Raw Silk Business in Xew York.... 153 
II. Quilling and Coning. Establishing a Raw Silk Buy- 
ing Agency in the Far East 157 

III. The Making of a Raw Silk Salesman 162 

IV. Raw Silks Used in New York 167 

CLASSIFICATIONS 

Italy 170 

Japan Filatures 170 

Japan Kakeda and Tamaito 171-172 

China Steam Filatures 172 

China Re-reels 173 

China Tsatlee Crossrecls 176 

China Tussah Filatures 178 

Canton Filatures 178 

RAW SILK FIRMS OF THE WORLD 

Yokohama 180 

Shanghai ^ 181 

Canton 182 

New York 183 

Lyons 185 

Milan i« < 

Ziirich 192 



List of Illustrations 

PAGE. 

Folding Map of Raw Silk Production of the World. .. .Insert 

Feeding Silkworms in Asia 15 

Adult Males and Females of Bomibyx Mori 18 

Silkworms at Different Ages 22 

A Full Grown Silkworm 23 

Examination to Prevent Diseases of Silkworms 25 

Different Shapes of Cocoons 30 

Tussah Cocoon and Butterflies 32 

Old Reeling Process in Japan 36 

Reeling "Chambon System" 38 

Reeling '^Tavelette System" 39 

Raw Silk Imperfections 46-47 

Percentage Test (Table) 52 

The Inspector's Sizing Scales and Reeler 53 

Automatic Cocoon Beater and Catching Whee^.s 65 

Italian Basins and Travelers in Cases 66 

A Jacquard Hand Loom in Lyons, France 82 

Outside View of a Japanese Filature 107 

Silk Waste Drying in a Filature Yard 112 

American Standard Re-Reeled Skeins 114 

Selecting Cocoons in Japanese Filature Warehouse 117 

Japanese Country Reeling 120 

Model Filature of Maruyama. Japan 126-127 

A China Steam Filature 136 



Part I 

THE STORY OF RAW SILK 



Chapter I. 
The Mulberry and the Butterfly 

IN order to be clear it is better to begin with the principle 
of life of the domestic silkworm, viz.: his onl> lood, the 
mulberry. All attempts to feed the worm on the leaves 
of other trees have proved failures. 

The four mulberry families are: The white, the black, 
the red, and the multicolor. 

In the wild state, the tree bears a delicious little black fruit 
of a rather acidulated flavor. If grafted, the doubled quan- 
tity of leaves absorbs the life of the tree and its fruit never 
ripens. 

The black mulberry was known in China and Italy in the 
oldest times. It was frequently used as an ornament in 
gardens. The leaves are in the form of a heart — short, 
thick, rough surfaced. As it grows very slowly and does 
not improve much yearly, the white mulberry has been gen- 
erally substituted all over Europe. The Japanese "kuwa- 
no-ki" is cultivated on mountains preferably to plains, and 
also on the shores of rivers. The species Yozume, Nezumi, 
Kikonha, etc., are smaller than the Chinese mulberry and 
never grow higher than four feet. Some along the rivers 
are only one foot high. 

The leaves are very tender. When the trees are forty 
years old they are destroyed and replaced by new ones. 

The white mulberry comes from China, and was intro- 
duced in southern Italy in the eleventh century. It has 
the advantage of growing rapidly in any climate and on 
almost any piece of ground. Not only is it quicker of 
growth, but the nutritious substances found in the leaves 
are such that the silkworms feed better and grow stronger 

13 



14 Raw Silk 

than on any other. The multicolor mulberry has some 
similarity to the white, but the leaves are not so tender. 

In the orchards, the young mulberries are grafted at six 
months and transplanted in rich, damp ground. After five 
years a tree ought to give forty pounds of leaves, at ten 
years one hundred and twent}^ pounds, at twenty years 
two hundred and ten pounds. 

A tree can live seventy years if properly cared for, which 
means that the leaves must be spared at least one season 
out of three. In that case the leaves have a better shape 
and color. 

The climate is of little or no consequence, as the mulberry 
grows in Russia and Sweden, as well as in Asia, provided 
the changes of weather are not too marked. In Japan the 
shortage of crop is often caused by the sudden frosts of 
May. It may safely be said that wherever vineyards are 
successful the same grounds are good for mulberry grow- 
ing. 

When the time is ripe for picking the le-aves it is nec- 
essary to choose a dry day, inasmuch as the leaves ought 
to be fresh, but not humid. The picking is done from the 
base to the top of the trees and the leaves are packed in 
sacks. Before feeding the worms the leaves are spread on 
an open aerated place until no trace of humidity is left. 

It is a good idea to feed the worms from wild leaves 
during the three first stages, and from domestic leaves 
during the balance. The quality of the fibre seems to be 
benefited in this way. 

The difference in the nutritive qualities is quite marked 
between trees of the same family growing in totally dif- 
ferent soils, but scientific demonstration tends to show that 
particularities of the worm life are ahvays the same, al- 
though the quality of the fibre is different. Questions re- 
garding the best conditions of soil and climate have been 
fully solved, and it w^ould be possible to obtain one quality 
always quite similar in results by nourishing the worms 
from extensive and well-kept mulberrj^ orchards. Unfor- 
tunately, modern filatures are always in the habit of mixing 
cocoons according to their appearance and reeling percent- 
age, not according to their rearing. I have noticed often 







fe 



16 Raw Silk 

that in almost every country, filatures under pressure from 
unavoidable causes, import cocoons of other countries or 
provinces to be reeled alone or mixed with local cocoons. 

When the crop of Cevennes cocoons is short, good Ital- 
ians or Syrians make up the shortage. The silks are sold 
as second choices only, and cannot compare with the silks 
spun from real Cevennes, although reeled by the same ex- 
perienced hands. In Japan it is common for cocoons from 
Bushu to be reeled in Sinshiu, and vice versa. 

I may note in passing a curious occurrence which hap- 
pened in Japan during the latter part of the season 1907. 
The crop was too small for the large American demand and 
prices w^ere pushed up to yen 1,400 for No. 1^ Kansai. A 
number of clever silk men imported Chinese cocoons and 
reeled and exported them as genuine Japanese raw silks 
under the usual chops, so that probably 1,000 bales of the 
same were accepted by American manufacturers who make 
it a rule not to buy Chinese silks! 

A Fukaya reeler achieved quite a reputation for his chop 
the day he had a chance to reel Chinese cocoons. There 
are many Japanese filatures reeling Chinese cocoons. The 
cultivation of yellow cocoons from imported Italian eggs has 
been developed during the last five years, and proves very 
successful. 

All of w^hich goes to show that the vogue of Japan fila- 
tures is due to their w^de range of qualities and to their 
accommodating our mills better than China steam filatures. 

The above examples show that an equal quality of cocoons 
of different breedings do not sensibly alter a quality already 
established, as long as the workmanship remains the same; 
but to obtain the perfect regularity of a first-class pro- 
duction it is undoubtedly necessary that silkworms be fed 
from the same class of mulberries, under the same atmos- 
pheric conditions. 

One fact has not escaped the observer's eye: The value 
of a certain class of raw spun from one yearly crop of 
cocoons is always greater at the beginning of the season 
than later on. It is easy enough to understand that the 
cocoons have not yet been adulterated, mixed or substituted 
by others as may happen later in the season. 



The Mulberry and the Butterfly 17 

Feeding the Worms 

The statistics show that the worms eat twenty-five 
pounds of mulberry leaves for one pound of cocoons. 
There are twelve pounds of cocoons to one pound of raw 
silk. 

One ounce of eggs should give not less than one hun- 
dred and thirty pounds of cocoons, if the hatching is done 
under favorable condition. To feed such enormous quan- 
tities in larger proportions the farmers must provide the 
proper number of mulberry trees. One ounce of eggs re- 
quires one .thousand five hundred pounds of leaves, or about 
twelve trees, averaging ten years of existence. That quan- 
tity of leaves cost in Europe about $10. 

In practice the farmers ought to get an average of ninety 
pounds of cocoons per ounce. Supposing he sells them at 
$0.75 per pound, he makes a profit of $67.50 against $20 
expenses, or a net profit of $47.50 per ounce of eggs. Of 
course, risks of frosts, illnesses, business depressions, etc., 
a:-e to be accounted for, but, as a rule, the small farmers 
in the country owning a few mulberries and time to spare 
make, good profits hatching silkworms. 

In China and Japan silkworms may be seen on one farm 
out of two, because mulberry trees are plentiful. Euro- 
peans, living in a warm climate, ought to follow their 
example. 

The Butterfly 

The mulberry butterfly comes out of the cocoon about 
ten to twelve days after the silkworm has started spinning 
it. During this period several transformations take place 
inside the cocoon. Three days after the cocoon is built, 
the worm becomes lifeless and dry, and is slowly trans- 
formed by nature into a chrysalis, an almond-shaped brown 
object having nothing of the worm or the butterfly. 

The hard coating of the chrysalis becomes thinner as the 
butterfly forms itself inside, and some morning, between 
five and seven o'clock, the coating is cracked and the but- 
terfly frees itself. The head of the butterfly touches the 
upper-inside of the cocoon. 



IS 



Raw Silk 



A few drops of alkaline acid from its mouth are sufficient 
to soften the gummy threads and they are easily pushed 
aside as the butterfly emerges to light— an ugly, fat and wet 
insect. Its color is of a whitish or brownish hue; the body 
is yet soft, but after fifteen minutes the wings are rigid. 
The female is larger than the male, and both are unable to 
fly. 

During their short life the bombyces, it is often remarked, 
live on love and fresh w^ater, because until death they eat 




Adult Males axd Females of the Bombyx Mori 



nothing; and no sooner has the male got out of the pierced 
cocoon than he looks for a female and when he finds one 
the fecundation may last twenty-four hours. But, lo! the 
watchful hatcher is there to bring that long courting to 
a stop, for the fecundation is regulated scientifically, and 
according to season, to a reduced time of five to six hours. 
Of course, the butterflies are skilfully selected beforehand, 
all sick or weak ones being eHminated. 

The female bombyx lays down some seven hundred eggs, 



The Mulberry and the Butterfly 10 

and during the first thirty-six hours an average of four 
hundred. 

The hatchers place the females on pieces of linen or 
cotton about half a foot square. The eggs, once laid, are 
washed in pure water, but are left on the Hnen until wanted, 
when they can be detached with a dull knife. 

As soon as the bombyces are dead they are submitted to 
the microscope, and if some are found to be infected by 
any disease they are destroyed, else they would commu- 
nicate the germs to others. 

If we take it that a female lays four hundred to five hun- 
dred eggs, seventy to eighty females will be necessary to 
make an ounce, or about 35,000 eggs. These eggs, brought 
to hatching and the worms fed on mulberry leaves will 
accomplish once more one of the most wonderful evolu- 
tions of Nature: the endless transformation of a worm into 
an insect, of an insect into a worm, with the mysterious 
incidental result: The silk thread. 



Chapter II. 
Scientific Life of the Silkworm 

THE silkworm from which the silk thread issues is 
called bombyx. The bombyx mori (mulberry silk- 
worm) is the largest species and produces the original silk 
thread. A number of silkworms, — the bombyx pernyi (oak's 
silkworm and yamamai of Japan), the mylitta (jujube), cyn- 
thia (ailanthus), cecroprie (plum), etc., — produce different 
kinds of silk of more or less use, although the yamamai of 
Japan and the tussah of Asia, are hatched in large quantities 
and the silk spun to make goods of rough appearance. 

The bombyx mori species are of two kinds; one of them 
reproduces several times every year, the other reproduces 
only annuall}^ The latter are by far the best and cast their 
skins four times before building their cocoons. 

The egg laid by the butterfly is slightly flat and only 
about one mm. long. Its specific gravity as compared with 
water is 1.08. Its color is yellow during the first day and 
then gray or brown the six following days. 

There is a lapse of ten months between the laying time 
and the hatching. During that time the egg, of which com- 
position was: 

Phosphoric acid, 53.8%. 
Potassium, 29.5%. 
Magnesium, 10.3%. 
Calcium, 6.4%. 

absorbs oxygen constantly, and loses in exchange carbonic 
acid and water, so that at hatching time the w^eight has 
been reduced by thirteen per cent, and the color has varied 
from gray to blue, purple, yellow and white. This is proof 
of the vitality of the egg, which is hardly noticeable during 
the winter, but very perceptible in summer. 

The eggs are hatched artificially, or the results would 
never be simultaneous, and by doing this the season is more 

20 



Scientific Life of the Silkworm 21 



easily selected according to vegetation. The eggs are taken 
to heated rooms and kept in incubation for twenty-five to 
thirty days. After that lapse of time the hatching begins 
and ends three or four days later. 

There are several conditions which are regarded as neces- 
sary for the successful hatching of silkworm eggs. 

It is a fact that they must be submitted to cold weather, 
for the action of warm wqather only has not been able to 
give satisfactory hatchings. The egg's life is then divided 
in three periods: the time elapsing between the laying and 
the cold season, during the cold season, and after the cold 
season, when the warm weather renews the life of the egg 
for hatching. However, if during :ithe third period cold 
prevails, the egg is liable to die. The^ conclusion is that the 
egg must be cared for methodically. Some Italian estab- 
lishments have extensive cold storage rooms to keep the 
eggs. It is best to place the eggs before winter in well 
ventilated dry places where weather variations are un- 
known. It is also easier to maintain in such hatching 
houses a cold temperature (as long as a year if wanted), 
to keep the eggs from hatching, but as soon as the third 
period has begun the warm temperature must be main- 
tained. 

The necessity of a cold period applies only to the eggs 
of the annual hatching kind, as we see the Bengals and 
South Chinas, which are of the multi-crop kind, living 
through steady warm weather. 

It is very important that the eggs should be given plenty 
of room because the w^orms once alive must breathe freely, 
and it further prevents an excess of double or treble 
cocoons. 

As soon as the hatching has begun, the mulberry leaves 
are brought for the little worms to feed on. 

One gram of eggs ought to give one thousand two hun- 
dred to one thousand five hundred worms. There is always 
a small amount of eggs prematurely hatched on account of 
their having been laid in warm and dry weather. 

The worm is but three mm. long when brought to life 
and weighs about one-half milligram. During the feeding, 
which lasts from thirty-thfee to thirty-eight days, it grows 




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Silkworms at Different Ages 



Scientific Life of the Silkworm 2.3 

with an extraordinary rapidity, moulting four times, until 
its length is nine cm. and its weight five grams. During 
that time the worm feeds continually from mulberry leaves. 
It has a voracious appetite except when losing its skin, 
then it stops eating altogether, but as soon as it has gotten 
rid of the old skin the appetite is even stronger than 
before. The worm grows in the proportion of one to ten 
thousand. 

When the worm reaches its maximum weight, that is 
about a week after the last change of skin, the glands con- 
taining the liquid that will be the future silk become inflated 
and the worm is unable to eat any more. It digests ithe 
last leaves left in its stomach and finally rids itself of a 
drop of pure potassium. The worm has now lost about one 




A Full Grown Silkworm 

gram in weight, and is ready to make its cocoon. It waves 
its head to and fro until it finds an obstacle, which it will 
climb at once, spitting out at the same time its first thread. 
The silk glands are now very large and represent as much 
as one-fifth the weight of the worm. The silk thread 
emitted by the w^orm is composed of fibroin overcoated with 
sericin, or silk gum, and some coloring matter producing 
yellow, green or brown cocoons. The coloring matter is 
kept in a gland near the mouth of the worm and is depos- 
ited on the thread when it comes out. The white fibres are 
less elastic, but thicker and stronger than the yellow ones. 
When the worms are ready to make their cocoons the 
hatchers place dry twigs and branches on wooden frames, 
where the worms choose the place to build their cocoons. 
With a few exceptions the worms start their work at once, 
and within five or six hours the outside of the cocoon is 
spun. Hastily the worm completes the inside, so that the 
cocoon is finished in twenty-four hours. 



24 Raw Silk 

If we open the cocoon we see the worm in a lethargic 
state. Its skin is milky white and it is slightly shorter. 
If we open the cocoon only three days after the cocoon is 
made, a great change has taken place. The worm has be- 
come a chrysalis. The chrysalis is now an ovoid mass, 
elongated, without appearance of life, although the insect is 
actually breathing and is very sensitive to bad ventilation, 
The insect coat is harder after a few days, and the color 
brown to yellow. The wings are still hard and fast against 
the body, and the low^er part only is flexible. 

The weather has much to do with the new life of the 
chrysalis. With a high temperature and wet wxather the 
chrysalis may become a butterfly and pierce, the cocoon 
within six days. On the contrary, at a low temperature 
the cocoons may be kept as long as one year in the house 
for rearing silkworms, but in practice some are treated in 
a different way. The cocoons are collected from the twigs 
and are cleaned of ,their first coating of loose silk wound 
irregularly around the cocoon. A choice is made of the 
double and flat cocoons; also a few cocoons are kept apart 
to allow ,the moth to come out to lay a new crop of eggs. 
The pierced cocoons cannot be sent to the filature and are 
sold to the waste silk industry. 

All good cocoons are suffocated in hot, dry air at eighty 
degrees Reaumur, and are weighed ready to be brought to 
the filature. 

The cocoon does not come to maturity without troubles, 
because the silkworm is subject to several diseases, which 
reduce a part of the crop ever^^ season and sometimes prove 
ruinous to the hatchers. 

Four diseases have already done much damage in the 
crops the world over. They are: Bassianite (muscardine), 
Pepperite (pebrine). Indigestion (flacherie), Laziness 
(grasserie). 

Bassianite (after the name of De Bassi, an Italian, who 
discovered the cause of the disease) is extremely con- 
tagious, and appears usually between the third and fourth 
moultings. The initial cause is an excess of warm, humid 
weather. Microscopic mushrooms spread themselves on the 
silkworm and also on the mulberry leaves in white stains. 



Scientific Life of the Silkworm 



25 



When the parasite is sufficiently developed, the blood circu- 
lation of the silkworm is gradually stopped, so that the 
worm dies before spinning its cocoon; even when it suc- 
ceeds in spinning it, it never becomes a chrysalis; its body 
becomes very hard and, being white coated, it resembles 
a sugar plum as much as anything. Precautions against 
this disease can easily be taken by using sulphuric fumi- 
gations. 

The pepperite (because the color of the worm, of white 




Examination to Prevent Diseases of Silkworms 



to rose, becomes pepper-spot colored) is caused by small 
microbes that develop in the body of the worm. The origin 
of this is not knowm; it is hereditary, and a few leaves 
spoiled with the excretions of sick worms are sufficient to 
poison a whole roomful of healthy worms. To Louis Pas- 
teur must be given the credit of discovering the location of 
this ruinous disease, especially in Europe, when between 
1852 and 1857, the Italian and French crops were reduced 
enormously so that it was necessary to import millions of 
eggs from China and Japan to make up ior the loss. At 



•.M) Raw Silk 

present the silkworm houses, where a few worms are dying 
of pepperite, are whitewashed clean and given a chloride 
fumigation. It has been .thus possible to check the disease. 

At the fifth period a number of worms suffer from in- 
digestion which is caused by vibriones eating the intes- 
tinal tubes. It is hereditary and contagious. It causes 
little damage if the worms are given fresh air and healthy 
mulberry leaves. 

Laziness (grasserie) is always caused by carelessness on 
the hatcher's part, because it originates with such circum- 
stances as poor ventilation, cold and humid air, which can 
be easily prevented. In such cases the worms, when the 
time for spinning their cocoons has come, move very 
slowly, losing as they move along a thick glue that stains 
everything. But although many worms may die of this 
sickness in the same room it is by far ,the least dangerous 
of all their ailments, because it does comparatively little 
damage. Of course, scientific silkworm raising ought to 
be rid of every disease. Good ventilation, uniform tempera- 
ture, well selected dry food, can certainly give as much as 
one hundred and fifty pounds of cocoons to the ounce 
of eggs. There are about seven hundred Italian, eight 
hundred and fifty Japanese and nine hundred Cantonese 
cocoons to the pound. 

The selection of eggs is the most important duty of the 
hatcher. The moths are subject to the same sickness as the 
worms inasmuch as some of them actually do not suffer 
from the diseases described above until transformed into 
butterflies. The first thing is the choice of healthy. butter- 
flies. Within ,two seasons the hatchers are able to elim- 
inate nearly all defective eggs and to make a selection of 
the perfect ones, among which the element of reproduction 
will be given the preference. Once out of the cocoons, one 
butterfly out of a hundred is examined with the microscope 
(crushed in a little water, the microbes can be seen at once), 
and the others are then paired to lay the eggs. The but- 
terflies crushed one by one afterwards may be examined 
once more with the microscope to make sure that no dis- 
ease will infect the eggs. This is rather complicated, but 
the results are so gratifying that it is worth the trouble 



SciKNTTFic Life of the Silkworm 27 

when it is known that one bad egg may spoil ten thousand 
good ones. 

Good care in the hatchint; industry is the only source ot 
profit. The Chinese lose a large amount ol* worms every 
year because they do not allow them enough room to grow 
and no care is taken either of the size of the worm, two 
facts which are recognized scientifically as indispensable for 
the welfare of the crop. Worms of the same size when 
kept together give much better results. Their food ought 
to be given sparingly and on time. 

Mulberry leaves are the exclusive food for ,the worms. 
The white mulberry tree, by far the best, comes from 
China; the black and red mulberry trees are found every- 
where in Europe. The leaves when picked must be given 
fresh to the worms, but never damp, because the tree, 
growing best in humid soil, the leaves contain a sufficient 
degree of moisture. During its short life the worm eats 
fifty times its weight. 

The interesting insect that produces King Cocoon and 
Queen Silk is reared in almost every climate and by every 
nationality. The world's production of cocoons from the 
bombyx at the present time is more than one billion pounds. 



Chapter III. 
Domestic and Wild Cocoons 

IT is interesting to know what particular cocoons are to 
be found in the producing centers of the world; whether 
from the mulberr}^ Bombyx or any other Bombyx. 

We shall make a distinction between cocoons from worms 
of annual reproduction, cocoons from worms reproducing 
twice a year (bivoltins), from worms reproducing thrice a 
year (trivoltins) and from three to eight times a yed.v (poly- 
voltins). 

Domestic Cocoons 

ITALY AND FRANCE.— The cocoon of the Bombyx 
Mori hatched annually is the only one that has given satis- 
faction. 

It is said that some trivoltin kinds are found in Tuscany 
and Milan, but these are the exception. The cocoons from 
Cevennes, France, are supposed to be the best in the world, 
although silks from that dis,trict are sometimes dusty. 
Piedmonts and Friouls from Italy give the best results. 

CHINA. — So large is the variety of cocoons found in 
China that it is almost impossible to describe them all. 
There are at least five poh^voltin kinds, yellow, green or 
white. The Canton cocoons are all polyvoltins. In the 
northern provinces there are several annual kinds. 

The Chinese yellow cocoons, in general, are of poorer 
nature than Europeans, many of them are very bad, ex- 
cepting those of the Tsie-Kiang Province. 

Filature experts have' said in several instances that with 
better material and work the Chinese would be able to 
produce out of the Tsie-Kiang or Woo-Sie cocoons a thread 
that would beat any Piedmont Extra. Mr. Warde, in the 
Lyons laboratory, made an official test a few years ago, 
showing that the fibre of a good Woo-Sie cocoon has 

28 



Domestic and Wild Cocoons 29 

twenty per cent more tenacity than any good cocoon from 
Italy or France. On the other hand, European cocoons 
weigh about three deniers with a good average quahty, 
while Chinese cocoons weigh only one denier, with great 
irregularity in the quality (four-fifths interior to one-fifth 
best). In the north, silks are usually clean, comparing 
very favorably with European silks when well reeled. In 
the south, owing to the hot and damp climate, cocoons are 
poorer, and the silk comes out hairy, gummy, with little 
tenacity and medium elasticity. 

The best selection of white cocoons spun in the steam 
filatures under European supervision produce a beautiful 
silk, the rival of the best Japans. 

JAPAN. — About ten kinds of cocoons are hatched in 
Japan from April to November. The greatest part are 
annuals and white. 

Since Italian and Chinese eggs have been introduced, 
there are many selections, but in the native product there 
is no such diversity of cocoons as in China, but the Jap- 
anese take much more care in the selection and hatching 
of eggs, so that they practically control the crop during 
two-thirds of the season. The raw silks shipped to Amer- 
ica are selected from among ,the nervy and hard natured 
silks. The color is somewhat .poor and they are reeled 
rather irregularly. Europeans prefer the soft natured silks 
on account of their beautiful white color, but the quality 
is not as good. 

INDIA.— The Bombyx Fortunatus is about the only 
domestic cocoon. Bengal cocoons are polyvoltins of yellow 
color. Out of six crops, the first is by far the best. These 
raw silks are always dusty, a little superior in quality to the 
best Cantons. 

THE LEVANT. — Under that name are understood 
cocoons hatched in Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Syria and Per- 
sia, where the French and Italian filatures supply themselves 
largely when there is a shortage in their own crop. At any 
time Levantine cocoons are found in stock at Marseilles 
and Milan to provide the filatures of those countries, and 
are often sold as white Italians. They give fairly good re- 
sults in the coarser sizes. 



30 



Raw Silk 



The worms are mostly bivoltins and cocoons w^hite to 
greenish in all districts except the Salonika light yellow 
and the Syrian yellow. 

RUSSIA. — The production of Caucasian white or yellow 
cocoons has been stationary for the last thirty years (about 
0,000,000 pounds) ; they are all polyvoltins of good nature 
but badly reeled by natives. 

INDO-CHINA. — The cocoons compare very favorably 
with those of the Kwang-Tung Province. -Two-thirds are 
yellow and one-third white polyvoltins. 




DiFFEREXT Shapes of Cocooxs 



The climate of Tong-King is really good for raising 
the worms, but the natives are lazy and their reeling process 
primitive. The French Government has established a num- 
ber of fdatures with excellent results. 

Other countries like Spain, Hungary, and Switzerland, 
each contribute a small crop of cocoons which are all an- 
nuals of the Bombyx Mori family. 



Domestic and Wild Cocoons 31 

Wild Cocoons 

Wild silks are the product of silkworms which cannot be 
domesticated and live freely on the mulberry and other 
trees. 

The silkworms make two kinds of cocoons: partly opened 
or closed. Those that are entirely opened can only be 
used in connection with the waste silk business. All wild 
silkworms must be closely watched on the tree where they 
choose to spin their cocoons and picked before the butterfly 
has time to get out of his prison. 

The Antherea Pernyi and Mylitta, found in Asia, arc 
most commonly known in the silk business as Tussahs 
(from the Indian Tussor). Their cocoons, which are larger 
than the Bombyx Mori's, seem to be closed, but are really 
made up of several tubular coatings closed at each end by 
the gums so that the reeling is done differently than with 
the ordinary cocoon. 

The basins used in the filatures must be flat because if 
cocoons are completely immersed in water the gums at each 
end dissolve and this allows water to get inside, which 
should be prevented for proper reeling. The cocoons once 
wet are deposited on wooden tablets and unwound from 
them. It is called dry reeling. In the wet reeling (water- 
reels) cocoons are unwound in hot water and soda. It is 
to be noted that the latter system shows a much larger 
percentage of waste. 

There is less mineral substance in the fibre of the An- 
therea than in the Bombyx Mori and i,t has been found 
necessary in practice to mix a gummy preparation with the 
water in the basins in order to obtain the raw. The Chinese 
add some dark greasy matter to the soda, which gives 
such a brownish color to tussahs. This is removed easily 
in a hot-water bath. 

Before 1875, tussahs were not used much in the silk in- 
dustry, owing to the color of the raw being uneven. Since 
then it has been bleached white through a chemical com- 
position of oxygen, water and bioxyd of barium. The 
natives in India and China reel tussahs showing irregu- 
larities anywhere from fifty to one hundred and fifty deniers 




TussAH Cocoon axd Butterflies 



Domestic and Wild Cocoons 33 

variation. Filatures, however, especiall}^ in Chee-foo, reel 
off silks quite perfect, both in uniformity and cleanliness, 
and tussahs are now well represented in the fashions of 
the day, mixed with other silks, douppions, schappe, cot- 
tons, etc. Other w^ild cocoons, as the Theophila and the 
Rondotia, must not be regarded as tussahs. They are 
entirely closed, contain a proportion of gum equal to that 
of the Bombyx Mori, but are smaller, white, gray and dark 
gray. They are found on the mulberry tree in the center 
of dried leaves, w^hich are bound entirely around them with 
the first threads emitted by the w^orm. It is strange that 
wild worms, living on mulberry trees, cannot be in any 
wa}^ domesticated, while those living on trees, like the 
jujube, ,the oak, the ailanthus, the Palma-Christi, etc., have 
all been domesticated after a time. 

The Yamamai, the Assama, the Milytta and the Pernyi 
are the most interesting. 

The Japanese Antherea, or Yamamai, is found mostly in 
the districts of Sinshiu, Mino, Goshiu and Tamba. The 
w^orm is green, ea,ting exclusively oak leaves, and builds 
a large, light green cocoon. The nature of the fibre is 
about equal to the domestic, but the excess of mineral 
substance makes it difficult to dye. It is exclusively used 
by natives to mix with ordinary silk, and w^eave heavy, 
expensive goods. 

The Assama, or Mounga, is found in Assam and parts 
of Turkestan. The cocoon is dark gray, weighing fully five 
deniers. It is subject to deadl}^ parasites deposited by flies 
and piercing the cocoon ahead of time. Thus the cocoon 
must be unwound quite fresh. The Pernyi, hatched in Man- 
churia, Shang-Tung, Honan, Kiang-Sou, Ze-Tchun, and 
Tchi-li, is now being more and more domesticated. Like the 
Yamamai, it feeds on oak leaves. The crop is four million 
pounds yearly. Part of the silk is reeled in filatures, the 
other part is reeled by natives on spindles. The Milytta. 
or Tussor (that last name is applied wrongly to wild silk 
filatures all over the world), is found in India living on 
several kinds of trees. The cocoon is very big, light yellow 
to dark brown, weighing usually 8/10 deniers. The raw 
is reeled out of two, three, four, and eight cocoons. Most 



34 Raw Silk 

of the tussahs coming on the New York market are Chinese 
eight cocoons. 

Several kinds of wild cocoons are found in other parts 
of Asia and Africa, but are practically unknown to the silk 
industry. 



Chapter IV. 

Growth and Development of the 
Modern Filature 

EMPRESS Si-Ling-Chi, wife of Hoang Tee, inventor of 
the calendar, is said to have been the first to introduce 
a method of gathering threads from cocoons and of reeHng 
them into a continuous fibre that could be tv^isted, dyed 
and woven. 

In that case the existence of the filature goes as far back 
as 2700 B. C, but it is no,t impossible, progress being very 
slow in China, that even before the time of Si-Ling-Chi, 
some five or ten thousand years ago, the Chinese had al- 
ready found out how to use .the silkworms. Empress Si- 
Ling-Chi is known today in China as "Te ching tsun kou 
niang," Goddess of the silkworms. Strange to say, the 
oldest Chinese prints, dating three thousand years back, and 
illustrating silk reeling, show that the reeling machine used 
then did not differ very much from the ones still in existence 
today, in the provinces, where the steam machine is 
unknown. 

The first hand filatures were introduced in Japan during 
the year 310 A. D. 

Under Justinian, 555 A. D., Nes,torian monks brought to 
Constantinople the formulae of an industry long kept secret 
in China. 

Gradually silk culture spread to Italy, Spain, France, 
Arabia and Egypt, and from there extended over the coun- 
tries where the soil and climate were favorable to sericul- 
ture. The first reeling machines were very simple, and the 
goods made out of such irregular raws as we see by sam- 
ples kept in museums, were exceedingly coarse. The reeling 
was done by hand exclusively. The cocoons being unwound 
either around a cylinder or a spindle-like piece of wood, 

35 



36 



Raw vSiLK 



the thread had to be cleaned and given some kind of 
twist by hand. 

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries some im- 
provement came out of re-reeUng, but the first filature, that 
is, the first assem1)ling of several basins under one roof 




Old Reeijxg Process ix Japan 

\vith the aim of improving the quality, was started by 
Vaucanson, the great French mechanician, during the year 
1750. It was built at Pont d'Aubenas in Ardeche. There, 
for the first time, the question of speed was resolved, sev- 
eral travelers being regulated by one man and the threads 
being passed through hooks moving horizontally. The 
cross reels were thus obtained. The several fibres comJng 



Growth and Development of the Modern Fteature ?>1: 

from the cocoons were united in a little hole perforated 
through a piece of glass instead of being brought together 
b}' hand. The next improvement was to dry the silk by 
allowing sufficient length between the basin and the traveler 
which made further re-reeling easier. 

Until the nineteenth century the filature was entirely 
under the influence of the Orient; not only on account of 
the cocoons being largely imported from the Far East, but 
also because the reeling machines showed little improve- 
ment on the Chinese system of centuries ago. 

During the nineteenth century, Europeans began to study 
the silkworms closely. A new science spread over Europe: 
the hatching of cocoons, and an analytical study of all 
reeling processes, until a perfectly logical and mathematical 
system of reeling was obtained. European filatures were 
born. The Chinese and Japanese themselves took advan- 
tage of this advance and at the present time .the two sys- 
tems of reeling, French two, four, six ends coupled, and 
Italian one to eight ends, are used the W'orld over. 

In the French filature the reeling girl, having first beaten 
the cocoons with a small brush broom in hot w^ater draws 
out the first coarse thread (thirty per cent), which will be- 
come frisons (waste silk). As soon as the following fibres 
come out clean she collects them from the broom, and, 
holding them in her -left hand, she gathers as many ends 
as necessary to make the raw; say six cocoons (six cocoons 
at two deniers = twelve deniers). These six ends are 
passed through a little hole, where they are united into a 
single thread. 

The hole is pierced in the center of a glass ring above 
the basin and prevents cocoons jumping after the thread. 

A very important point Is the twisting. In the French 
filature or ''Chambon," ,the glass rings are always coupled 
so that the two fibres are twisted on each other (about two 
hundred times). By this operation the fibres are made 
regular, well aggregated, perfectly cylindrical, and cleaned 
of gross irregularities. When dirt or pieces of cocoons 
are taken up, they break the threads in the twisting, so that 
the reeling girl has to clean and retie them. After the 
twisting, the threads are passed through hooks and twisted 



38 ' Raw Silk 

once more, but only one time on each other. This is only 
to prevent both threads getting on the same traveler in 
case of a break. 

The above system of reeling gives greater regularity and 
perfection of finish to the silks, but on the other hand, it 
is not possible to work properly more than four ends per 
basin or about three hundred grams of silk a day. 

The Italian filature has the advantage of reeling, accord- 
ing to the cleverness of the reeling girl, any number of ends, 
which increases largely the production. 




Reeling, Chambon System 



The apparatus is the same as the French, except that the 
twisting is done over on the fibre itself; that is, it goes 
directly from the ring, A, to a Small wheel, B, and runs 
back to another wheel below, C, to go up again, twisting 
itself between B and C, and running up to a third wheel, D, 
and thence directly on the traveler via a horizontally moving 
hook, which regulates the distribution of the thread on the 
travelers or cross reeling. 

It is very important to dry the silk in order ,to prevent 
the gums of the fibres sticking together and every up-to-date 
filature has a complete steam tubing running along the 
travelers and drying them while in action. 



Growth and Development of the Modern Filature 39 

Improving the Filature 

Several fair trials have been made of the automatic reel- 
ing machines. Probably the best of all is the electric basin 
invented by an American, Mr. Serrell, and improved by 
several ItaHan reelers. The hand v^ork consists of getting 
the cocoons ready to unv^ind. The end throv^ing is done 
automatically. The threads pass over a pendulum regulated 
by electricity in such a way that as soon as the depression 
of the threads indicates a falling in the size another' cocoon 
is added to the bunch to make it up. However, up to the 
present, results have not been satisfactory, as it requires 
quite a good deal of supervision and loss of time which 
does not pay after all. 




Reeling, Tavelette System 



The automatic catching wheel, perfected by Mr. Camel, is 
among the latest improvements, and has given the best 
results. Instead of throwing the end toward the other 
running ends, it is hooked on a horizontal wheel revolving 
two thousand times a minute. The wheel seizes the thread 
and brings it into contact with the others. It has the 
great advantage of avoiding the coarse ends invariably 
obtained through hand throwing. 

It is not my intention to give a course of instruction in 
reeling, but I will simply say that the perfection of the 



40 Raw Silk 

filature is still left with the reeling girl's ability. To main- 
tain the right number of cocoons in the basin she has to 
use her experience and judgment. As an example, to make 
a size lJ/i3 with cocoons averaging two deniers, she would 
have to maintain: 

6 new cocoons 0x2 =12 

or 

5 new cocoons 5 x 2 = 10 

2 half cocoons 2x1= 2 

= 12 
or 

4 new cocoons 4x2= 8 

2 half cocoons 2x1= 2 

4 skins 4 x 0.50 = 2 

= 12 

She must keep the water at a boiling point. She must 
watch that no dirt runs up the thread; that the twist is 
long enough, etc. But even the best reeling girls are not 
free from mistakes, and a strict supervision is necessar}^ 
in all filatures. 

We shall now^ see, taking the ordinary French and Italian 
filatures as a basis, what improvements could be made either 
in the re-reeling or the machinery that would make the 
best silk at a minimum of expense. 

The building of a filature should be of wood entirely, simi- 
lar to the Japanese filatures, but high roofed in order that 
the vapors from the hot w^ater in the basins may be dis- 
sipated at once. The French four-end system is better to 
reel fine sizes up to twelve deniers. The reeling girl 
would have to prepare the cocoons and do the cleaning 
herself. 

The travelers should not turn more than one hundred to 
one hundred and twenty revolutions a minute. 

For reeling from thirteen deniers and above the Italian 
system is better: say eight ends with an extra girl to pre- 
pare the cocoons every three basins. There should be no 
retieing because the travelers could turn as fast as possible, 
but re-reeling would be necessary. In both cases automatic 
catching wheels should be used. 



Growth and Development of the Modern Filature 41 

The cost of both combinations compares as follows: 
French system (four ends), cost, per basin, per day: Work- 
ing girl fifty cents, general expenses fifty cents, total one dol- 
lar. Italian system (eight ends), cost, per basin, per day: 
Working girl fifty cents, auxiliary girl fifteen cents, re- 
reeling seventy-five cents, general expenses seventy-five 
cents, total two dollars and fifteen cents. 

If the French basin is reeling nine deniers, travelers re- 
volving one hundred times a minute, the Italian may work 
just as fast and produce double in weight on eight ends 
instead of four in any coarse size. The difference in price 
on the sizes makes the net profit about equal each way. 
Being given the above coml)ination there is no possibility 
of working any better. 

If we put the coarser sizes on the French four ends we 
lose time. If we put the finer sizes on the Italian eight 
ends we cannot work it properly; the reeling girl cannot 
make a good, fine size with so many ends, and even if she 
uses four only the perfection of the thread cannot be ob- 
tained otherwise. 

At present a filature is either one or the other system. 
Each one has an advantage over the other; they should be 
both judiciously used in the same filature. 

The question of speed is very important, and, although 
it decreases in proportion with the increasing number of 
ends, the quality of cocoons has very much to do with it. 
If a good cocoon unwinds regularly at one hundred revo- 
lutions a minute and two good cocoons at ninety, two bad 
cocoons might unwind at fifty revolutions only, a fact which 
must be accounted for in the working account. 

In any case, silks spun slowdy come out always better 
than those spun very fast, because there is more elasticity 
and tenacity in a fibre which is given the opportunity of 
aggregating well. It can be w^atched more closely anyway, 
and be made considerably cleaner. In the Japanese fila- 
tures, wdien the travelers are revolving over one hundred 
times a minute the fibres are strained so as to render it 
impossible to avoid fine ends. In the French Cevennes 
filatures, travelers turn slower than anywhere else, and the 
silks ate perfect. 



42 Raw Silk 

In the choice of cocoons the modern filatures have en- 
countered a serious difficulty with dusty cocoons. 

Are some cocoons fuzzier than others? The question is 
not definitely settled. My personal idea is that silks spun 
with small cocoons are more dusty than others, because, 
for instance, ten small Japanese cocoons make a fibre 
twice as dusty as another made out of five large ones. 
It goes to show that the largest cocoons are the best. 
The automatic catch wheel has the advantage of simplify- 
ing the operations greatly and should be a valuable addition 
to every basin. 

In conclusion, I append statistics of raw silk spun in the 
filatures and similar establishments of the world. It is to 
be noted that the output in 1880 was 24,000,000 pounds. It 
will soon reach three times this quantity, owing to the 
extension of Japanese reeling. 



Statistics of the World^s Production of Raw Silk for a 
Period of Forty Years 

Average During 

1881-1890 1891-1900 1901-1910 1911-1920 

Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. 
Europe — 

France 1,316,000 1,539,000 1,300,000 800,000 

Italy 6,614,000 7,136,000 7,800,000 7,200,000 

Spain 185,000 186,000 191,000 140,000 

Hungary 441,000 582,000 673,000 350,000 

Russia 214,000 502,000 970,000 300,000 

Levant and Asia Minor — 

Syria 606,000 944,000 985,000 500,000 

Turkey, Brussa 595,000 1,153,000 1,209,000 720,000 

Greece 42,000 87,000 118,000 200,000 

Balkans (Serbia, 

Bulgaria, etc.) 30,000 63,000 127,000 90,000 

Persia and 

Turkestan . . . 280,000 340,000 661,000 570,000 



Growth and Development of the Modern Filature 43 

Average During 

1881-1890 1891-1900 1901-1910 1911-1920 
Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. 

China. — 

Shanghai 7,700,000 9,500,000 11,200,000 9,890,000 

Canton 2,000,000 3,428,000 4,850,000 4,600,000 

Japan 3,400,000 7,120,000 10,000,000 30,500,000 

India 830,000 611,000 589,000 190,000 

Total 24,253,000 33,191,000 40,673,000 56,050,000 

Statistics of Asiatic silks are available for exported goods 
only. It is safe to add tw^enty-five per cent for Japan, 
fifty per cent for China and seventy-five per cent for India 
to represent the whole production. 



Chapter V. 
Conditioning, Testing and Boiling Off 

AFTER raw silk is spun and ready to be sold there is 
a very important test which all manufacturers ought 
to have made to ascertain what quantity of moisture the 
silk contains. Xo textile fil:>re can absorb humidity in so 
large a proportion as silk and, therefore, there is a risk of 
buying water at the price of silk, which would be costly. 

It is admitted that normally silk contains ten per cent 
water. The operation consists in reducing the silk to per- 
fect dryness and adding a fixed amount of eleven per cent 
for allowance of moisture; if the said moisture exceeds 
eleven per cent plus two per cent the difference is credited 
to the buyer. 

This ought to be an absolute rule and every bale ought 
to be conditioned as is done in Europe, but American manu- 
facturers have their ow^n ways regarding that question. 
While some are satisfied to send their silks to the condi- 
tioning house, many buy original weight, and while they 
never mention anything if the silk gains on the original or 
invoice weight, they do not fail to make a claim if it loses. 
As there is a conditioning house in New York large enough 
to accommodate everybody, it is to be hoped that in a few 
years from now all transactions will be made "conditioned 
weight." 

In all the great cities of the world where silk business is 
done there are conditioning houses with dessicators of the 
most modern and accurate models. In France, Lyons, as 
the pioneer of all silk cities, has the largest conditioning 
houses, and also St Etiennc, Paris. Aubcnas, Avignon, 
Privas, Marseilles, Valence, Nimes, Roubaix, Amiens, in 
Ttah^: Alilano, Torino. Bergamo. Lecco, Udine, Firenze, 
Brescia, Ancona, Pesaro, Genoa. Como. Tn Germany: 

44 



Conditioning, Testing and lioiuNo Off 45 

Crcfeld and EherfeUl. Tn Switzerland: Ziirich. In Japan: 
Yokohama. In China: Shan^rhai. 

Conditioning and testing are completely treated in a re- 
cent book, "The Value of Conditioning," issued by the 
United States Testing Co., of New York. 

Boiling Off. 

To determine the exact quantity of silk which will be 
used in silk goods, it must be boiled off in order to extract 
the gum from the thread. This boil-off is necessary to 
obtain the beautiful brilliancy of the silk w^hen dyed. In 
Europe the silk is often boiled off before it is sold, for 
certain qualities are liable to lose more than expected, but 
in Am.erica that test has not yet become popular because 
the sort of silks now used have a well defined difference 
of percentage. 

Japans, white, lose '18/21 Or 
Japans, yellow, " 21/23% 
Italians, yellow, " 20/23% 
Italians, white, " 20/22% 

China steam fil. " 20/23% 
Tsatlees '' 20/24% 

Cantons '' 20/23% 

Tussahs " 8/14% 

Tests. 
The tests of sizing and winding of silk are made in the 
filatures, but when necessary to have a definite proof of the 
facts it is customary to have further tests made at the con- 
ditioning house, where besides the dessicators they have all 
the machinery for winding, sizing and even to ascertain the 
tenacity, regularity and elasticity, as well as the cleanliness 
of silk. 

Although the figures as given by the official test are 
as correct as possible, the inspector's test is nevertheless 
always better, because it is made on the whole lot while 
only a few bales, one to four for a ten bale lot, are sub- 
mitted to the conditioning house. 

Outside of the personal valuation of silk by an inspector 
there are certain mechanical devices to ascertain the qual- 
ity of silk. This is done according to European standard: 



46 



Raw Silk 





""^--S^ 


''':-'''^-'''^'^^^^^^^^ 


»»?*>** 


" ' ' '"'""'■ "'■ ■'■^■-■^■"-^'■'^--'-''^H^^ """^^^^■''■■-^'^^^^«^:*?«?^S,i*?S^JS?J«^^ 


:--• • A-^ 





FUZZIXESS 




Dead Exd 




Knot 
RAW SILK IMPERFECTIONS 



Conditioning, Testing and Boiling Off 47 




Nest 



Lack of Cohesion 




COKKSCREWS 

HAW SILK IMPERFECTIONS 



4S 



Raw Silk 



Winding. 

(Test made on fifty revolutions per minute.) 

Inspection report. For 2 hrs. Meaning of 

winding. report. 

100 tavelles and more to 1 break, extra good winding 
100 " 2 to 4 breaks, very good winding 

90 " 4 to 6 " good winding 

80 " 6 to 8 " good to fair 

70 " 8 to 10 " fair 

60 " 10 to 15 " fair to poor 

50 " 15 to 25 " poor 

40 " 25 to 40 " ver}' poor 



Cleanliness. 

Thread absohitely pure 

Only a few nibs or corkscrews 

A few nibs, nests and slightly hairy 

The same plus particles of cocoons 

The same defects in quantities 

The same in large quantities 



Extra good 

V^ery good 

Good 

Fair 

Poor 

Very poor (unfit) 



Sizing. 

The sizing of raw silk is obtained by selecting a number 
of skeins from a lot and reeling out four hundred and fifty 
meters of thread from each skein. The small skeins are 
weighed on a special denier scale and their average must 
show the correct size. That is, if the silk is a 13/15, the 
result must show a size between 13.75 and 14.25. If the 
average is below 13.75, the size is said to be 13/15 line. 
If above 14.25, the size is 13/15 coarse. A manufacturer 
ought to know that if he buys a 13/15 coarse, he loses on 
the 3^ardage. It is always better to receive a lighter silk. 
The same remark applies to all sizes. 

In America, manufacturers are not generally particular 
regarding the question of size. It is a mistake. In Europe, 
where everything is figured out very fine, a lot is not ac- 
cepted by the buyer unless it shows the correct sizing 
within a very small margin. 



Conditioning, Testing and Roiling Off 



49 



Thr standard size is 13/15 in America and 11/13 in 
Europe. 

Sizes below 13/15 always fetch higher prices, say about 
ten cents by size. Sizes above 14/16 sell at lower prices, 
in proportion, and according to stock on hand. 



Sizing Test. 



V^ariations of 2/3 deniers on 10,000' 
meters; say, for instance, a 
13/15 varying between 13 and 
15 on the whole length 



Extra good 
(Piedmont Extra Extra 
Yellow) 



ation of 3/4 denier 


Very good 




(Italian Extra Classical) 


" 4/5 " 


Good 




(China steam best) 


" 5/r, '' 


Ciood to fair 




(Japan Best No. 1) 


u r,/7 " 


Fair 




(Japan Sinshiu No. IVj) 


. 7/8 '' 


Poor 




(Canton XXB) 


" " S/lO " and more 


Very poor 




(Low Grade Tsatlee) 



Color. 

No matter of what color a lot of silk is, there must be 
uniformity from the first bale to the last. If there are 
several shadings in one lot, the inspector must report to 
that efiFect, for it may cause no end of trouble at the dyers'. 

Por instance, in a lot of 10 B/ Japans, the report may 
mention: 6 B/ pure white, 3 B/ cream, 1 B/ dark. 

Again, one lot may be white and another of a darker 
hue when coming from the same filature. In such case, 
the manufacturer knows which one to dye into darker 
shades. 

Some skeins, especially yellow^ ones, have two shadings. 
They ought to be eliminated or set aside in a special bale. 
France, Italy, Spain — Silks are light or dark yellow. 



50 Raw Silk 

Japan — rSinshiu, Mino, Shimoosa — white. 

Uzen, Rikuzen, Bushiu — cream. 

Koshu — dull to very dull white. 
China — Shanghai — Steam fil. — very white. 

Canton — whitish to cream. 
The Levant — 

Salonika — light yellow. 

Adrianople — pure white. 

Bulgaria — cream. 

Brussa — whitish to cream. 

Syria, Bengal — gold yellow. 

Caucasian — greenish. 
When silk is old, the color is slightly altered. Dark yellow 
becomes pale or yellowish; pure white turns dark, with a 
tint of green or yellow. 

Elasticity. 

The elasticity and tenacity can be tested either with the 
hands or by a special machine called a serimeter. The com- 
bination of all tests demonstrates absolutely the quality of 
all silks, whether fit for organzine, single weaving or tram. 
A raw silk expert is the man who can, simply by looking 
at a few skeins representing a lot of silk, determine the 
grading and what it can be used for. 



Chapter VI . 
Percentage System of Inspection 

THE percentage system of inspection, as done by 
United States manufacturers, proves to be a very 
correct way of ascertaining the classification of raw silk. 

Thirty skeins or more are taken out of a ten bale lot 
and are given the usual test of winding at high speed. 
There is an accurate test for cohesion, elasticity, cleanli- 
ness. To this is added a sizing test, because it is the best 
proof of regularity. Being given a certain percentage 
to each quality or defect, the average gives the grading, 
which serves as a guide to the buyer for further purchases. 

A perusal of the inspection report printed herewith on a 
lot of Sinshiu Extra Yodasha tells the story at a glance. 

We see that the lot is very nearly as good as represented. 
With a better regularity in the thread it would grade up to 
a Double Extra. It is a proof that the choiice of cocoons 
was good, but the reeling deficient. Either some of the 
reeling girls were inexperienced or unsupervised, or the 
reeling itself was too fast. 

Approximative Inspection 
Percentage of Japan Silk 
Double Extra A Crack chops for single 

weaving 96% and above 

Double Extra A Cracks 94% 

Double Extra A 93% 

Double Extra B 90% 

Extra A 88% 

Extra B 86% 

Best 1 to Extra 82% 

Best 1 78% 

No. 1 74% 

No. 1-1^ 70% 

No. iy2 66% 

51 



Raw Stlk 



Account Posi 6l Sheldon Corp. Report Dace April 24th-, 1919 iq 

Chop "Tennis Ball & Racquet" Yodasha Chisagatagori Shinshu 

Lot No. 173 Stock: Japan China Ital. 

Bale Nos. 8042 Color: White Ivorv' Cream Yellow 

Seller Lustre: VG G FG F P \ P 

Mark RSTC Hands: VS SKY X\^Y Firm Str Spg 



Winding Based on 30 Skeins, 120 yds. per Minute 

Breaks 41 Cause Fine Ends & Gums Gums Medium 



Defeccs Found in 10,000 Yds. Estimated on 
Taken From 300,000 Yds 

10 Skeins 10 Skeins 10 Skeins Defects 

Penalties 
V>ry Fine Thds. 2 13 1 1 40 

Fine Thds. 3 1 4 2 3 2 . 75 

Coarse Thds. 1112 12 40 



O 



Evenness Penalties 300 150 420 210 120 210 
Percent 69 83 63 77 87 77 



235 



Raw Knots 5 6 

Knots Large x| 1 

" V " xl 3 3 
Waste xl 

Slugs xi 1 1 

" V « xl 1 

Bad Throws xl 2 1 

Corkscrews xl/20 8 3 
Split Ends 

Loops xl/20 11 8 

" V L xl/20 

Nibs xl/20 18 21 



6 

22 



20 



4 

2 

1 
6 

10 

18 



4 
2 

1 

2 
2 

5 

11 

28 



130 
25 
90 
5 
40 
15 
45 

175 

270 
635 



12 
90 

5 
20 
15 
45 

9 

13 
32 



Bl 



Cleanliness Defects 56 
Percent 



46 



56 50 49 60 



1585 241 



84 



Tenacity 59 & 51 = 
Cohesion 



Grams 13.83 
Strokes 2350 



Size 97% 

100% Ave. 99 



Quality 

Above % Divided by Three 



99 
98 
97 
96 

95 
94 
93 
92 

91 
90 
89 



too 



Hairiness Very Bad Deduct 5% Bad 3% Slightly 1% 

Humidity Dry 70 Wet 62 Relative % 65 Absolute 5.1 Grains 



Remarks Weight of 30 Skeins 4.4 lbs. from the U. S. C. & T. Co. 



86* 

85 

84 

83 

82 

81 
80 
79 
78 

77 

76 
75 
74 
73 
72 

71 
70 
69 
68 
> 67 
66 

65 
64 
63 
62 
61 
60 

59 
58 
57 
56 
55 
54 
53 



84 



74 



Percentage System of Inspection 53 

With an inspection report like that, a manufacturer is 
able to point out to the filature what improvement may be 
brought to its quality. The classification of silk would be 
greatly improved if business was done direct with the reel- 
ers under original chop only. 




The Ixspector's Sizing Scatj:s and Keei.eu 



Part II 

RAW SILK IN EUROPE 



56 Raw Silk 



J 



Introduction 

If we study the raw silk industry of Italy, where that 
business has attained perfection, it will not be necessary for 
us to study it again in the other silk centers of Europe, 
as it would be a repetition of the same together with 
poorer conditions. France is the onl}- country that could 
compare with Italy as to the quality of raw silk, but 
the production is becoming smaller and smaller. Spain 
and Hungar}^ each have a few filatures which do not 
amount to one thousand basins altogether. Their products 
are consumed at home. A special chapter will be devoted 
to Lyons as the leading market of the world for silk goods. 



Chapter 1. 
The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 

BEFORE entering into details of the organization of 
Italian filatures it is necessary to say a word about 
the different provinces devoted to the great industry and 
how it has been developed to the present high standard 
of production. If Italy now ranks third as to the quantity 
of marketable raw silk and first as to the quality, it has 
come only after a sloyv^ evolution during many centuries. 

The studies of the climate and working methods in differ- 
ent centers will give us a better understanding of this vast 
subject. 

From China, through Greece, Africa and Spain, the silk 
industry w^as brought to Sicily during the twelfth century 
(1130 A. D.) From Palermo, Messina and Napoli, it 
spread to Firenze, Lucia, Bologna, Modena and finally Lom- 
bardia, Venetia and Piedmont. From this last place it was 
introduced into France. Today the Italian filatures spin 
from ten to twelve million pounds of raw silk in the fol- 
lowing centers: 

Country. Number Number 

Piedmont. — of filatures, of basins. 

Torino 41 2,100 

Cuneo 47 3,000 

Alexandria 36 2,500 

Novara 7 450 

Liguria — 

Geneva 2 50 

Iwombardia — 

Milano 1 34 10.000 

Pavia 22 1,350 

Como 143 10,500 

57 



58 Raw Silk 

Country. Number Number 

of filatures of basins. 

Sondrio 3 220 

Bergamo 88 7,500 

Brescia 49 2,700 

Cremona 42 3,000 

Mantova 9 350 

Venetia — 

Verona 11 450 

Vicenza . 46 2500 

Padua 5 390 

Veneza 2 150 

Trento 45 2,200 

Udine 87 3,000 

Belluno 2 50 

Emilia — 

Piacenza 3 80 

Reggio 2 175 

Modena 2 130 

Ravena 3 150 

Forli 5 225 

Toscana — 

Firenze 21 600 

Lucera 48 650 

Arezzo 14 550 

Umbria — 

Peruggia 1 95 

Marche — 

Pesaro 45 850 

Ancona 30 850 

Macerata 9 200 

Ascoli 2 50 

Campania — 

Caserta 2 95 

Calabria — 

Cosenza 16 450 

Catanzaro 1 60 

Reggio 14 900 

Total 1,039 58,620 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 59 

Cocoons 

Before going into details of the filature itself it is neces- 
sary to say a word of the cocoon business. 

Formerly there was a sufficient crop of cocoons in Italy 
to give plenty of work to all the filatures, but the importa- 
tion began as soon as the basins became too numerous. At 
present some 11,000,000 to 12,000,000 pounds of dry cocoons 
are imported annually, viz.: 

Yellow — 

Salonika, pure yellow, gives very good silks. 
Adrianople, pure yellow, gives very good silks. 
Servia, Bulgaria, pure yellow, gives very good silks. 
Greece, pale yellow, very good for fine sizes. (The pale 

color is on account of the sun warming instead of steam 

warming.) 
Hungary, bright yellow, very gummy silks. 
Syria, Smyrna, Cypress, light yellow, give good silks. 
Brussa, Caucasus, Persia, Turkestan, scarcer and inferior 

quality. 

White— 

Adrianople, very white, very good quality. 

Brussa, white to whitish, good quality. 

Caucasus, Persia, Turkestan, whitish, coarse sizes. 

China, Shanghai, very white (Woo-Sie, Showshings), used 

mostly in fine sizes. 
Cantons, Tussahs and Japans are not imported any more. 

The market for cocoons takes place before or during the 
crops. In the first case contracts are made in a form 
showing the locality where the cocoons have been hatched, 
their quality and the approximate production expected from 
them. In the second case contracts are made upon sam- 
pling. 

Price Conditions 

The price of cocoons is said to be final when it is made 
without taking into consideration either the expected re- 



C)0 Raw Silk 

suits or the price fixed officialh' by the Chamber of Com- 
merce. 

The referendiiin price, with or without premuim, is fixed 
by the Chamber of Commerce of each market (the pre- 
mium may vary from five to forty cents per pound of fresh 
cocoons). The conditioned price is made according to what 
the raw silk turns out to be on the four to one basis (four 
kilos cocoons equal one kilo raw silk). 

The price of the Sericultural Association of Milan was 
formulated in 1911 for the first time and is tabulated ac- 
cording to the average of prices paid for raw silks, quality 
subHme, size 10/12 and 14/16 from April 15 to August 15. 
Sometimes contracts are made half one way, half the other. 
The dry cocoon market is invariably established on the four 
to one basis, although the final value rarely turns out so; 
but if the result is inferior to four kilos the seller obtains 
a bonus; the buyer is allowed a rebate if the result proves 
more than four kilos. 

Weight tests are carefully made at the conditioning house 
from the results obtained in three different filatures that 
have each been given four kilos of cocoons to spin. The 
decision of the conditioning house is without appeal. 

For a number of years most of the filatures have owned 
dessicators for drying cocoons. It has advantageously re- 
placed the hot room of old, which took a long time to do 
efficient work and w^as never satisfactory. The dessicators 
mostly in use are those of Bianchi, Dubinichiesa, Pellegrin, 
Beretta, etc. They all heat up to two hundred and seventy 
degrees Fahrenheit. The chrysalides are killed w^ithin two 
hours. In four hours the cocoons loose twenty per cent, of 
their weight. In sixteen hours thej^ are completely con- 
ditioned, having lost two-thirds of their original w^eight. 

As we shall see later in our study of spinning, the weight 
of the thread varies wath the quality of cocoons. The selec- 
tion of cocoons has the utmost importance for the combina- 
tion of sizes. 

Following is the different weight (deniers) obtained from 
cocoons of several countries: 



Thk Raw Sjlk Industry uf Italy 61 

Qualities — Maximum Minimum Average 

Yellow Piedmont 3.77 2.08 3.06 

Yellow Cevennes 3.65 2.30 3.03 

White Persians 3.54 2.12 2.87 

Yellow Adrianople 3.68 2.11 2.84 

Y'ellow Toscan 3.83 2.05 2.81 

Yellow Salonica 3.35 2.22 2.73 

Yellow Greece 3.31 1.94 2.61 

Yellow Hungarian 3.66 1.99 2.64 

White Turkestan 3.59 2.01 2 68 

White Japanese 3.20 1.92 2.12 

White Chinese 2.54 1.48 1.96 

The maximum of weight comes out of the exterior of the 
cocoon, the minimum from the interior. The boiling off of 
silks made out of Italian yellow cocoons is sometimes as 
much as 23.50 per cent, and white cocoons 22.25. The yield 
(rendement) of cocoons has much importance in the silk 
industry as it is taken as a basis to establish the cost price 
according to the amount of work that will be required 
from reeling girls to spin a quantity of raw silk with as little 
waste as possible. 

The production may vary from two hundred to six hun- 
dred grams of silk per basin and the waste from fifteen to 
one hundred per cent. The best quality of silk would then 
be obtained from cocoons giving the least quantity of waste 
and that problem is the most important for a filature man- 
ager who is looking for profits. 

Site of Filatures 

Italian filatures, as a rule, are built very much in the same 
st3de and their organization is said to be quite uniform. 
The very modern ones, of course, work on a more rational 
basis and employ the latest devices for the production of the 
best silks in the most productive way. Improvements lately 
have been directed to the regularity in the size, better wind- 
ing and principally larger production. 

In general, filatures arc situated in villages as near as 
possible a river, not onl\' on account of the power which 
can be procured from water, but also because the quality 



62 Raw Silk 

of running water is superior in the treatment of cocoons. 
It is necessary that the service of reliable reeling girls 
may be found in abundance in the villages surrounding the 
filature. The number of basins varies from fifty to three 
hundred, but the average is around eighty. 

We shall now look into a filature reeling classical silks 
and see how work is organized in all branches, mentioning 
at the same time other improvements which are not to be 
found in this particular filature. 

In order to follow every detail we shall thus divide our 
study: Machinery, water, cocoon warehouses, filature, silk 
warehouse, waste warehouse, organization, employees and 
bookkeeping. 

Machinery 

A filature of eighty tavelles does not require a powerful 
steam engine. The transmission, steam heat and other 
necessities do not take more than twenty-five horsepower, 
using about one thousand pounds of coal per day. 

In some filatures driven by electricity, travelers are 
worked automatically, so that the winding is regulated ac- 
cording to the speed desired. A pump usually brings the 
water up to the roof in a large tank, and from there it is 
distributed hot or cold to the basins. 

Apart from driving the travelers, the steam engines fur- 
nish considerable power used either in the filature itself 
or in the cocoons or raw silk warehouses. 

Water 

In the yard near every filature, a reservoir, about fifty 
yards square and two yards deep, contains water irrigated 
from the river or from a well. This water must be filtered 
before using in the spinning process, as its purity and 
quality have the most powerful effects on the silk. A good 
water must be soft without alkali, and its dissolvent prop- 
erties very marked. Distilled water is supposed to be the 
best, the direct result of its properties being to give a hard 
natured touch to silks unwound in it and preserving all 
qualities of elasticity and nervousness of the thread. The 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 63 

waters of Japan, in the Koshu district, are ideal in this 
respect. 

As water has not only a direct action on the fibrose but 
also on the mineral substances in the silk, it may be neces- 
sary, if the water is not soft enough, to immerse in the 
reservoir a quantity of straw, the properties of which will 
collect and precipitate the heavy salts. Waters rich in 
carbona are treated by oxalic acid; waters saturated with 
sulphates or nitrates are treated by a solution of ammonia. 

In many filatures a mixture of crushed chrysalis and 
water is poured directly into the basins to soften the 
threads and prevent an excess of mineral substance. In 
the filatures spinning low grade silks a composition of 
glycerine and soap is mixed with water to help unwind 
cocoons of p#or quality without adulterating the raw silk. 

Cocoon Warehouses 

Dry cocoons are kept in large rooms, packed tight in 
bags of about one hundred pounds each. Each day a quan- 
tity of cocoons is taken to another room where the num- 
bered baskets of the girls are lined on the floor. The 
weight of each basket is taken accurately, and its contents 
are supposed to be transformed into a corresponding quan- 
tity of raw silk. 

In some filatures reeling extra grades, cocoons are poured 
on a large piece of tin with holes of several sizes, in order 
to divide them into piles of large and small ones, before the 
distribution. Baskets full of cocoons are placed near the 
reeling girls, and are replaced with new ones as soon as 
empty. At the end of the day whatever is left in the last 
basket is brought back to the warehouse and credited to 
the reeling girl. 

Before sending the cocoons to the filature, a careful se- 
lection must be made, and all imperfect ones are turned 
over to the waste silk industry. 

Cocoons are rejected on account of the following defects: 

Open cocoons — due to some imperfection in the work of 
the worm. 

Dead cocoons — when the chrysalis has died inside before 
terminating its work. 



64 Raw Silk 

Dirty cocoons — due to the putrefaction of a dead chry- 
salis inside. 

Unfinished cocoons — called chiques; they can be unwound 
if properly handled. 

Double cocoons — due to the work of two chrysalides 
spinning together in a large cocoon. 

The above cocoons being eliminated, a choice is made 
according to size and color, so as to obtain homogeneous 
work in the basins. 

The Filature in Italy 

Basins and cocoon beaters are placed in line, usually in 
two parallel rows, with a few yards space in the middle. 
Large windows allow the sun to give plenty of light and at 
night a lamp is placed above each basin. If the basins are 
grouped in bunches of twenty to thirty, it is easy with 
several transmissions to give different velocities to the 
travelers. Also steam and water can be distributed accord- 
ing to the kind of cocoons used and the quality wanted. 

In the old filatures one cocoon beater served four basins; 
at present some filatures have one to every two basins, and 
others, one to every basin, which increases sensibly the 
production, since the reeling girls have always cocoons 
ready to unwind, and no time is lost in preparation, A 
very 3'oung girl can take good care of two basins. 

In some of the very latest filatures the cocoon beaters are 
separated from the basins in a single row, and the reeling 
girls, instead of sitting with their backs to the travelers, 
actually sit in front of them and give better attention to 
their work, but at the same time, they cannot attend to the 
retying of broken ends, and some other girls have to attend 
to the work. 

The cocoon beaters are provided wath an automatic brush, 
turning in the basin where cocoons have been placed in very 
hot water. After revolving some twenty times, cocoons 
are cleaned of the first thread (frisons), and the girl pulls 
out the clean ends to a fixed length until she has in hand 
a bunch of cocoons ready for the spinning girl. Formerly, 
cocoons were beaten by hand with a little broom, which 
method, however superior in workmanship, was too costly 
on account of the number of girls required for that purpose. 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 



65 



It is the duty of the cocoon beater to mix in the basin, 
before collecting the ends, old cocoons, which for one rea- 
son or another, did not unwind well with new cocoons; 
also to see that the water in the basins and the steam are 
properly distributed. 

It is out of the basins used for cocoon beating that the 
**fumana" (heavy smoke) issues, and not only humidifies 
the room, but also penetrates the silk, rendering it very 
gummy and hard. In order to fight that dampness, steam- 




AuTOMATic Cocoon Beater and Catching Wheels 



heated tubes are run above the beater and alongside the 
travelers. 

The reeling basin itself is of ovoidal form, and contains 
water at sixty centigrades. If cocoons are very dry then a 
higher degree of heat is required. The heat of water is 
always fixed according to the speed of travelers. 

In general, basins are six ended, but some new ones have 
eight ends. The latter may give a larger production, but 
require first-class cocoons only. Above the basin, at a dis- 
tance of about five inches, there is a glass button with a very 



66 



Raw Silk 



small hole in it. In that little hole the several threads 
unite and come out on the other side a uniform thread. The 
Chamhon filature system is not used any more, but the 
tavelettes system, with self-crossing, is adopted everywhere. 
We shall not describe the principle of the tavelette reel- 
ing again; suffice it to say that the crossing of that system 
does not allows any gross irregularities in the thread to pass; 
it polishes around the ends perfectly, and takes out a large 
quantity of water. A good crossing must be of two hun- 




Italian Basins and Travelers in Cases 



dred turns and seven inches long. The crossing can be 
made automatically, but most of the reeling girls can do it 
themselves just as quickly. The travelers are placed in a 
case behind the basins, one traveler to each case working 
independently of the others. Each traveler communicates 
with a pedal under the basin, so that if one thread is broken 
the traveler can be stopped, while the others keep working, 
until the broken thread is found and retied. 

In nearly all filatures a number of girls look after the 
broken ends, saving considerable time to the reeling girl, 
as the threads must be crossed again, as well as retied. The 
sizes of travelers vafy; three sizes are mostly used: meters. 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 67 

1.20, 1.50 and 1.80. The speed is regulated generally from 
eighty to one hundred revolutions per minute. 

The automatic end thrower is not used very much. It 
consists of a little wheel placed directly above the glass but- 
ton and turning at considerable speed. It catches the end, 
cuts it sharply and adds it to the other end. However, 
good reeling girls prefer the old system of throwing the 
ends with the fingers, and hardly miss as much as the 
automatic w^heel. 

Another improvement consists in winding the silk di- 
rectly on bobbins instead of travelers, in order to save time 
at the mill, but it has not been found very practical as yet. 

In general, for every twenty basins a girl is placed be- 
hind the travelers, and kept busy cleaning the skeins that 
have been stopped for retying. During the spinning some 
travelers are selected here and there and brought to the 
ofifice so that the size can be tested and corrected if any- 
thing is wrong. This is done right along and no chances 
are taken at any time of the day. 

Raw silk is taken from the travelers in hanks of different 
weights. Those for throwing purposes are made up in 
skeins of fifty grams. For weaving and exportation, skeins 
of eighty to one hundred grams are the accepted staple. 
The reeling girl, after completing a hank of silk, must fix 
the beginning and the end of the thread with a little string 
of schappe, so that it can be easily detached at the mill. 

Each re,eler must take the hanks herself to the mill 
warehouse and hang them on hooks corresponding with 
her basin number. If the raw silk is for immediate throw- 
ing purposes, the reeling girls make the skeins themselves, 
otherwise the skeins must be examined, cleaned of all dirt, 
irregularities, corkscrews, etc. Hard gums must be rubbed 
out. When the silk is to be exported to America, a special 
thread of cotton (capiure) is inserted with a metallic comb. 
This process is said to be "American style.'* Several fila- 
tures are now re-reeling their silks in view of exportation 
to America. This improvement is being adopted as fast 
as possible all over the country. Silks are never packed 
in books like those from the Far East, but are simply 
bunched in bales of about tWo hundred pounds. 



68 Raw Silk 

Besides the sizing machine, many filatures are equipped 
to inspect the winding, cleanliness, regularity of raw silk, 
together with its specific qualities. 

In the silk industry, w^aste silk (cascami) represents quite 
an important branch. The frisons are the result of the first 
beating, and are by far the best of all wastes on account of 
the lengthy ends of very good silk. Every ten or fifteen 
basins a girl collects those frisons and removes the chry- 
salis and other dirt attached to them. By pulling on those 
ends a length of one yard and a half is obtained. These 
long fibres are then brought outside and exposed to the sun. 

Pierced cocoons are collected from the bottom of the 
basins, where they have naturally fallen. The ricotti are 
the cocoons which, although nearly entirely unw^ound, have 
still a little amount of silk around the dead chrysalis. These 
ricotti are placed in a barrel and boiling water is poured 
over them. A man then turns a stick inside for hours until 
all the chrysalides drop to the bottom; the barrel is emp- 
tied and the silk matter collected, placed under a press to 
dry and again exposed to the sun to bleach it. 

The following percentage of waste is obtained out of 
Italian cocoons: 

Frisons, twenty-five per cent.; Pierced cocoons, twenty 
per cent.; Ricotti, fifteen per cent.; Dry chrysalis, twenty 
per cent. 

The Reeling Girls 

There are only a few provinces where good, reliable reel- 
ing girls can be found, and such provinces are those that for 
many centuries have applied themselves to the raw silk in- 
dustry. The day may come when the scarcity of help will 
result in a decline of the industry, such as happened in the 
reeling centers of France. It takes many years before a girl 
becomes expert in the art of reeling, and before working at 
the basin she must be on the cocoon beaters' staff for two 
or three years. She is given afterwards a couple of ends 
to take care of until she is able to fill the position of first- 
class reeling girl at a six or eight-ended basin. In old 
times, girls were admitted to the filatures at the age of 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 09 

seven or eight; now the minimum age allowed by the law is 
twelve, and regulations are very strict on the subject. 

Reeling girls, it must be said, are becoming very scarce 
since other industries, especially cotton, are making them 
greater inducements, such as less work and higher salaries; 
and as in silk reeling, the workmanship cannot be replaced 
by machinery, it has been found every year more difficult 
to obtain the necessary help to run the filatures in full. 

Other industries, with modern machinery not requiring 
personal skill in the different processes can afford to pay 
more by being able to produce more. The filatures have 
been forced to raise the payroll of their employees. During 
the last fifteen years the salaries have advanced fifteen per 
cent., while at the same time, the length of working hours 
has diminished twelve per cent., which means an advance 
of two to three lire per kilo of raw silk. According to the 
last official statistics, the amount of salaries paid to reel- 
ing girls is fifty million lire per annum. 

Twenty years ago the reeling girls had to work some 
sixteen hours a day. At present the working hours are dis- 
tributed thus: From six to eight A. M., work; between eight 
and eight fifteen, breakfast; from eight fifteen to twelve, 
w^ork; between twelve and one twenty P. M., lunch; from one 
twenty to six twenty P. M., work, or about eleven hours 
of w^ork. The reeling girls are paid twenty-eight cents a 
day, the cocoon beaters, and those in care of waste silk 
twenty-two cents, those in charge of the silk warehouse 
thirty cents, and the superintendents from sixty to seventy- 
five cents. 

The simple enumeration of the above salaries shows how 
useless it would be to try to raise cocoons and open filatures 
in America. Girls of ability, working hard eleven hours a 
day for twenty-two cents, are not to be found on this side 
of the water. The reeling girls, who live near the filature, 
are allowed to go out at stated hours, but those who live in 
surrounding villages usually go out in the evening only. 
Girls living at a distance go away on Saturday evening and 
return the next Monday. In such cases the manager must 
pay for the trip. They are fed and sheltered at the filature, 
and about six cents a dav is deducted from their salary. 



70 Raw Silk 

The daily food consists of about half a pound of bread, 
with soup, spaghetti or polenta and vegetables. Working 
girls are paid once a month, but upon request advances are 
accorded to them. The help recruiting takes place during 
July and January, but in both ways the employer and em- 
ployee need only eight days to cancel the contract. There 
are two hundred and forty working days in a filature, de- 
ducting holidays, and a period between the fifteenth of June 
and the fifteenth of July, during which the crop is ascer- 
tained. 

It must be noted that during the last decade girls have 
been getting more difficult and unmanageable. The direc- 
tor and superintendents must be very careful in their re- 
marks and treat them with care and discretion, otherwise 
they very quickly leave the place for another, for they have 
no trouble at all to find work at once. As in all other in- 
dustries, they are organized in unions, and are always ready 
to strike in order to obtain higher wages and better treat- 
ment. 

During the work hours, it must be conceded, the girls 
are very diligent, and it is customary to hear them singing 
popular songs that help the tedious hours to fly away, thus 
stimulating themselves to work faster and better. 

There is one thing which has not yet been applied to the 
filature; it is paying the people according to the quality of 
work they turn out. No doubt some girls are more experi- 
enced, produce more and better than others; at the same 
time they are not paid any better. The manager probably 
finds it easier to make an average, the superiority of one 
balancing the imperfections of the other. 

Insurance 

All the working people in the filatures are insured by the 
company against accidents. It is a law of the state, which 
costs about seventy cents per annum, per head. In case 
of absolute disability resulting from an accident, within 
the filature walls, the insured person gets a sum amounting 
to six times his annual salary, w^ith a minimum of three 
thousand lire. In case of partial disabilit3^ the minimum is 
five hundred lire. In case of temporary disability, half the 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 71 

daily salary is paid the injured person. In case of death 
the family gets five times the atmiial salary. 

Supervision 

In order to supervise efficiently a filature, an experienced 
woman is needed to every thirty to thirty-five basins. She 
must walk all day in front of the basins and see that the 
reelers and cocoon beaters work diligently, that the water 
is at the right tem.perature, that the exact amount of co- 
coons making the right size is always kept up in the basins. 
She must keep on record all observations coming from the 
office relating to size, regularity, winding, cleanliness, ac- 
cording to the results shown in the journal as, to production 
and waste. The superintendents have been, as a rule, em- 
ployed in filatures many years before securing such a posi- 
tion and are necessarily very experienced in all branches of 
the industry. 

Direction 

One good director is enough to manage a filature. He 
may probably need a bookkeeper to keep the journal and 
supervise the weighing of silk and cocoons. The director is 
all day long in the filature, and besides making frequent tests 
of the newly reeled silks, he also personally supervises the 
work of the reeling girls. The average salary of a director 
is something like ten dollars per week. 

The Associazone Serica of Milano has an evening course 
on silk for young people who want to find positions in the 
filatures. At present there are only about twenty pupils. 
The Associazone Serica also secures positions for the grad- 
uated students. There is also a model sericultural and silk 
manufacturing college in the ideal city of Como. 

Finance 

We shall now enter into the details of the finances, which 
will serve as a basis to give an exact idea of cost prices. 
Taking a seventy-basin filature we have: 
Seventy reeling girls. 

Thirty young girls to take care of the cocoon beaters. 
Four girls to inspect silk on travelers. 



72 Raw Silk 

Eight girls for waste silk in general. 

Two girls for sizing. 

Five girls to inspect silk and clean it before packing. 

Two girls to make and weigh the skeins. 

Two girls to weigh cocoons. 

Two superintendents. 

Two men for machines and general work. 

The figures may vary according to the manufactured ar- 
ticle, but the above 'wall cost an average of lire 2.40 per 
basin, and per day. Besides that, general expenses include 
renting, direction (lire 0.65 to 0.80 per basin), insurance, 
taxes, w^ater, lighting (figured on two hundred and forty 
working days), 0.80 per basin; coal, 45 cents per basin. 
That is: 

Workmanship Lire 2.40 

General Expenses .... .80 
Coal 45 



Lire 3.65 per basin and per day. 

Between one filature and another the cost may vary 
something like fifty cents, more or less, according to the 
kind of silk produced, and also the conditions under which 
the filature is working. 

Once the cost of each basin is figured, it is easy enough 
to establish the profits, according to the prices of cocoons 
at four to one (four kilos cocoons = one kilo raw silk) 
at a price of say seven lire per kilo; deduction to be made 
of the sale of w^astes. 

A variation in the daily production and in the quantity 
of waste makes, of course, a great variation on the cost 
of reeling. Thus we see cocoons that can be reeled at the 
cost of nine lire, others at seven lire, per kilo. 

Cocoons giving the smallest daily production are always 
those that make more waste. 

Naturally to the above expenses the reeler adds a few 
small ones, which must be added to form exactly the price 
at which he can sell with a profit. The reeler generally 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 73 

finds a benefit in what gains he may obtain over the official 
valuation of the cocoon's quality, but it is usually the fila- 
tures reeling Classical and lower grades, who get such 
profits, while those making the highest silks for raw weav- 
ing have to figure on a loss from the official valuation. 

The Journal 

All the operations of the filatures are kept accurately in 
the journal, the book in which every working day of every 
person connected with the mill is recorded, and the whole 
is totalled at the end of each week in a way showing pretty 
well the progress accomplished. Through the journal, the 
director can see w^hich one of the reeling girls is defective, 
also which one works in a superior w^ay; it is a great help 
in making the right observations. It shows the quantities 
of merchandise used and in stock (see tables A and B). 

How to Keep the Journal 

Prisons, production today, Kilos . ." % 

Prisons, production previously, Kos 



Total 



Bassines, production today., Kos % 

Bassines, production previously, Kos 



Total 



Ricotto, production today, Kos % 

Ricotto, production previously, Kos 



Total 



Lot of cocoons, No Kos. 

Cocoons spun today 

Balance 



Production of silk today, Kos. . . . . . 

Production of silk previously, Kos. 



Total 



74 



Raw Silk 



Observations 

Average production today, Kos 

General production today, Kos 

Production by each reeling girl, Kos. 

Active basins today 

Active basins previously 

Consumption of coal, Kos 

Coal previously used, Kos 

Light used 

Weekly Report 

Working days 

Previously 

Total 

Table A. 



Journal of the Filature. 



Date. 



Working Hours. 



Basins 

No. 1 . . . 

No. 2... 

No. 3... 

Etc. 



Quality 

of 
Cocoons 



Spun 
Cocoons 



Silk Pro- 
duction 



Result 



Average 
+ - 



Size 



Number 
of co- 
coons 
Speed of 
travelers 



Remarks 



Table B. 



Week No from . 



.19. 



Date 



Monday 
Tuesday 
Wednes- 
day 
Etc. 



Quality 


Active 


Spun 


Size 


Size 


Size 


Size 


To- 


Va- 


Pro- 


of co- 


Basins 


Cocoons 










tal 


lue 


duc- 


coons 


















tion 



Waste 

% 



General Observations on the Silk Business in Italy 

The reelers who have money or credit with bankers 
usually work their filatures for their own account. In that 
case, during July they purchase cocoons for their year's 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 75 

production, or they purchase cocoons for a few months 
only, taking their chances as to the possibihties of buying 
later on dry Italian cocoons or imported ones. 

We m^y note that the White Italian cocoons which were 
formerly very much appreciated for their fine quality and 
brilliant color have almost disappeared. In a large lot of 
yellow cocoons representing fifty bales, there might be 
found enough white cocoons to spin a couple of bales. 
Those white cocoons are resold to filatures who make a 
specialty of spinning white cocoons into sizes 8/10 and the 
like, for muslin and very fine organzines. Some important 
French houses in Milan are doing a very large import busi- 
ness in Asiatic whitish cocoons, which are kept in quanti- 
ties at the conditioning warehouse. Outside of that, all 
transactions are understood to call for yellow cocoons. 

The reelers who have not a sufficient capital or do not 
care to speculate, work their filatures for the account of 
other people: 

First — At a fixed price for each kilo of silk produced. 

Second — At a fixed price per basin and per day. 

In the first case the firm for whom the reeler is working 
furnishes the cocoons and a fixed amount of silk is to be 
returned to them. If more silk than expected is produced 
it is the reeler's profit; if the contrary happens, the dif- 
ference is debited against him. The fixed price is under- 
stood for every kilo of raw silk, all wastes becoming the 
property of the reeler. In that kind of contract, engage- 
ments last for months and sometimes a year, several prices 
being, of course, agreed upon, according to the quality of 
cocoons and the size to be spun. 

The reeler must guarantee the quality, size, winding, 
color, and is liable to be asked for a rebate in case of de- 
ficiency. 

In the second case, the firms for whom the reeler is work- 
ing also furnish the cocoons, but the reeler must return not 
only the silk, but also all waste, without guarantee of pro- 
duction, quality or size. 

The above kinds of contracts are quite in favor, when the 
price of cocoons compared with the price of silk leaves a 
profitable margin, but when the cocoons are too expensive 



76 Raw Silk 

in comparison to the price of raw silk, the reelers working 
for the account of others do it at a very small profit, and 
even no profit at all. Still they prefer to accept that rather 
than close the filatures altogether, because the reeling girls 
would desert the place and go to some competitor. 

There is now a good organization of silk dealers who are 
ready to store silk and cocoons for the account of reelers, 
and to advance in cash seventy-five per cent on the value 
of silk, permitting them to continue w^orking when business 
is dull. Such houses have the same organization as com- 
mission houses in New York. Many reelers, instead of 
doing business direct with a bank deal directly with those 
commission houses or some silk merchants, who, for a 
commission of one per cent furnish the necessary money 
to run the filature, but in that case the filature is ab- 
solutely under the control of the commission house, and 
all contracts and sales are made through it. That is the 
reason why many raw silk merchants have the exclusive 
sale of several filatures, which they are at liberty to dis- 
pose of to the best advantage on the markets of the w^orld. 

The reelers who own filatures far from the silk markets 
usually have an agent in Milano looking out for their in- ' 
terests, and acting as a com.mission broker. Although many 
large filatures deal directly with buyers in Lyons, Milano or 
New York, most of them prefer doing business in Milano 
through the silk brokers. 

The recognized commissions are: 

For fresh cocoons, one cent per ko. 

For dry cocoons, two cents per ko. 

For raw silk, six cents per ko. 

For waste silk, two cents per ko. 

Engaging work for a filature, four cents per ko. 

All brokers' commissions are payable net cash the day 
after the silk conditioning, or when the dry cocoons are 
delivered to the buyer. Very rarely one month is allowed 
when sales are made directly to the manufacturer. Deliver- 
ies are made bale after bale, and payment accordingly^ Once 
in a while a large filature delivers five or ten bales at a 
time, but it is the exception unless for shipment to America. 

It is only when the silk is contracted for forward delivery 



The Raw Silk Industry of Italy 77 

that it may be rejected for inferiority after inspection, 
otherwise the bu3xr must accept the silk as it is. 

All transactions are made according to the market rules, 
and may be referred to the Silk Association, the decision of 
which is without appeal. 



I 



I 



Chapter II. 
Sericulture and Filatures of France 

IT is localized in the southern part of the country, the 
largest centers being the departments of Ardeche and 
Gard, where the climate is temperate and labor cheaper 
than elsewhere. 

Cocoons are excellent and belong to the four molting 
species. 

Filatures reeling Cevennes cocoons are producing the 
very finest raw silk in the world, especially adapted to 
fine sizes, such as 9/11 and 10/12. However, the crop 
IS rather short; labor is too high. The quantity of cocoons 
raised in France is far too small to accommodate the fila- 
tures. 

Cocoons are imported from Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, 
Syria and the Caucasus and kept in storage in Marseilles 
until brought up to filatures over the country. 

The distribution of filatures is as follows. 



Departements (Districts) 

Ardeche 

Bouches du Rhone 

Drome 

Gard 

Herault 

Isere 

Loire . . . . 

Savoie 

Vaucluse 



filatures 


No. of Basins 


51 


6,000 


4 


550 


19 


1,000 


54 


5,700 


17 


1,400 


1 


100 


2 


190 


1 


60 


12 


1,000 



161 16,000 



Sericulture and Filatures of France 79 

There are still a number of establishments in the Cev- 
ennes districts that are mounted according to the slow 
Chambon system of reeling, but during the last twenty 
years, very modern machinery has been installed in new 
buildings, such as the eight-ended basin with catching 
w^heels and automatic cocoon beaters. 



Chapter III. 
Lyons, the City of Silks 

FRANCE is the second nation (America being first) in 
respect to the quantity of manufactured silk goods, 
l)ut she is still first as regards quality, taste, and splendor 
of production. 

The annual output of silk goods in France amounted, pre- 
vious to 1914, to one hundred and thirty million dollars, 
almost all of which is the product of the looms of Lyons. 
As the export of silk from France reaches eighty million 
dollars, which is larger than any other product, it is easily 
seen that Lyons contributes even more than Paris to the 
wealth of the countr}^ 

It is highly interesting to study the reasons for the su- 
premacy of Lyons over such markets at Ziirich, Milano, 
and New York, and I w411 try to show wh}^ that advantage 
is maintained notwithstanding the ever increasing com- 
petition. 

Anybody entering the offices of the average silk manu- 
facturer in Lyons would be surprised to see a couple of 
small rooms and a magasin or wareroom, w^ith a few clerks 
about, looking after some bundles of silk. It w411 take 
many years before any Lyonese dares to open an ofifice as 
sumptuous as those displayed by our New York manufac- 
turers. 

The Lyons manufacturer is like a publisher; both of 
them edit the work of others after a careful consideration 
of their merits and chances of success. The freedom of 
such a m.anufacturer is his strength; for he does not control 
the looms working for him; he simply gives his orders 
outside either to some mills or to private weavers. Having 
nothing to do with mill management or supplying the 
looms with work, he can keep better posted and follow the 

80 



Lyons, the City of Silks 81 

trend of fashions more closely. If he starts on a fabric and 
its vogue is short-lived he is always in time to catch the 
new fad and recognize his mistake. Thus, he is in a much 
better position as regards the course of fashion than his 
American, Swiss or German competitors. 

The American manufacturer, with an enormous and al- 
ways increasing number of looms, turns out silk goods by 
the mile, whatever the fashion may be, and if suddenly the 
demand ceases, an enormous quantity of goods is left on 
his hands, which it is impossible to sell, or which must be 
sacrificed at a great loss. 

In America, if a silk concern makes money, it very 
quickly starts building up an additional plant for an in- 
creased number of looms. Building more factories is, no 
doubt, considered a sign of wealth, but, on the other hand, 
if business is bad, some additional capital is called in and 
the company builds just the same. There are already in 
America enough looms to furnish silk dresses for every wo- 
man in the land, but, nevertheless there are all the time an- 
nouncements to the effect that ground has been broken for 
additional silk mills. Is there no limit to the capitalists, 
who place their hopes in the silk business? It is all right 
to add a few looms when the country is prosperous, but 
keeping up the building of mills simply means that many 
looms will stand idle when bad years come. 

In Lyons the people are more conservative. Every now 
and then a new mill is built, and the venture always attracts 
the comments of all. The policy of running a few looms 
all the year 'round evidently pays more than having only 
half the quantity in action. The Lyons manufacturer has 
an unlimited number of partners viz.: the designers, the 
mill owners, the finishers, etc. All these people, although 
not being directly associated with him, have an interest in 
keeping him well posted, in suggesting, and creating for him 
whatever will bring business. He is at liberty to pick up 
what pleases him best, distributing to one mill his orders 
for satins, to another his orders for taffeta, and attending 
to the financing and selling end himself. The commission 
houses of America can be compared to this only in the light 
that they may be financing several silk enterprises, such as 




A Jacquard Hand Loom in Lyons, France 



Lyons, the City of Silks 83 

broad silks, ribbons, velvets; but they do not profess to 
know mnch about manufacturing", and are satisfied to see 
that their money brings in as high a rate of interest as 
possible. 

I will name at once the most important factor of the silk 
business in Lyons — the silk merchant. The organization of 
silk merchants in Lyons is the most powerful in the world. 
Even the Milano market, now handling more raw silks, is 
practically controlled by Lyons banking establishments. 
The raw silk merchant needs a large capital because most 
of the time he is owner of some filatures in Europe, and 
also an importer of Asiatic raw silks. 

In Lyons, as well as in Milano, the silk merchants sell 
on a one hundred days' basis, discount allowed if paid in 
ten days, six per cent per annum. It is a safer business than 
the extended credits allowed to almost everybody in Amer- 
ica. Silk is always sold conditioned, except for some wild 
species, and, indeed, conditioning is absolutely the root and 
foundation of correct raw silk business. It is most sur- 
prising to note that only one-third of the silk coming to 
the New York market is actually conditioned. No manu- 
facturer in Lyons would accept a pound of silk before it was 
duly weighed, conditioned, sized, tested as to elasticity, 
tenacity, and very often a boil-off test is requested. After 
all this is done, he knows what can be done with the fibre. 
This conservatism pays in the long run because the varia- 
tions in such a costly material may amount to important 
gains or losses. 

It must be said also that the sales of twenty-five bales 
of raw silk in Lyons are less numerous than those of fifty 
on the New York market, the bulk of transactions being 
limited to lots of a few bales, and, of course, manufacturers 
can follow more closely the quality of their purchases. 

Until 1875 the looms of Lyons were exclusively worked 
by hand. At present there are yet about 15,000 jacquard 
hand looms in Lyons and surrounding villages, making 
special kinds of goods, mostly high class brocades. In more 
recent years, especially the last two decades, a number 
of manufacturers have built large mills in order to weave 



84 Raw Silk 

larger quantities of pile fabrics, but the majorit}^ of manu- 
facturers are still placing orders outside "a fagon." 

The finishers and dyers of Lyons have helped materially 
to make their city the foremost in silk manufacturing. 
They have a recognized superiority over the dyers of the 
world. It is a superiority gained by hard work, because 
these dyers, whose names are knowm everywhere, actually 
started from the bottom, working to the top by hard, ener- 
getic work, and the millionaire dyers of Lyons are not at 
all ashamed to soil their fingers, and work among their 
men. I would not be surprised if nine out of ten of the 
finishing and dyeing plants of this country have been 
started, and, if not owned, have prospered through the 
hands of skilful Lyonese. 

With such a prodigious activity of manufacture in Lyons, 
its silks most naturally find their w^ay to Paris and foreign 
countries. At certain times of the year, buyers from Eng- 
land, United States, Russia, and Germany come to the 
streets near the Place des Terreaux to buy millions of dol- 
lars worth of novelties that will rule the fashions from Paris 
to Timbuctu. What an inventive brain those manufacturers 
must have, w^hen foreigners are always ready to copy, imi- 
tate, and finally produce in enormous quantities at cheaper 
prices the w^onderful fabrics created by their imaginative 
genius! Every season's product must be absolutely differ- 
ent from that of its predecessor, so that the buyers may 
always be interested and enthusiasts over good selling 
prospects. 

In St. Etienne, near Lyons, there is also a vast industry 
specialized in ribbons, but owing to the intimacy of the 
business interests of both cities, their products are alw^ays 
counted together. 

The export of silk from Lyons, through that city or Paris 
in 1910 was: $32,000,000 to England, $14,000,000 to United 
States, $3,000,000 to Switzerland, $3,000,000 to Belgium, 
$2,000,000 to Germany, $2,000,000 to South America. 

How long Lyons wnll retain her present supremacy over 
her formidable competitors is a hard thing to guess. Silk 
manufacturing is growing in such enormous proportions in 
the United States, Germany, and Switzerland, that perhaps 



Lyons, the City of Silks 85 

they may manage eventually to put the French out of busi- 
ness through cheaper workmanship and larger output. The 
economists say that the silk business in Lyons has not pro- 
gressed during the last decade, but they still recognize that 
it is in Lyons alone that can be found the highest grades of 
silks and the most beautiful designs (one has only to pay a 
visit to the Lyons Art Museum to be convinced of this as- 
sertion). The royalties and courts of all nations, for their 
pageants, cannot find elsewhere silks sold at hundreds of 
francs per yard and worth it. 



Chapter IV. 
The Levant 

WHETHER in Europe or in Asia, Levantine raw silks 
are practically controlled by Europe, since over half 
of the cocoons are exported to France and Italy. 

Conditions in these various countries are very bad at the 
present time, when one knows the amount of persistent 
labor and skilled supervision spent by the Turkish Gov- 
ernment and French investors to bring the production to 
what it was previous to the Balkan war of 1911. 

From the official records I find that the yearly crop of 
fresh cocoons from 1900 to 1911 gave an average of forty 
million pounds in Turkey alone. 

After the Balkan war, 1912-1913 returned thirty-two mil- 
lion pounds. 

The 1914 crop was partly destroyed by diseases and after 
that the great war made things worse. 

The 1915 crop yielded eighteen million pounds. 

The 1916 crop yielded fifteen million pounds. 

The 1917 crop yielded twelve million pounds. 

The 1918 crop yielded ten million pounds. 

The 1919 crop yielded seven million pounds. 

The 1920 crop yielded six million pounds. 

What are the reasons for such a decline in the crop of 
cocoons? 

The worst is that mulberry trees have been destroyed by 
the Turks in the proportion of sixty per cent and used as 
fuel all over the country. The leaves of a mulberry cannot 
be picked to feed the silkworms before the tree is five years 
old! We must figure then that should political conditions 
give farmers confidence enough to start growing mulberry 
trees, it will take many years before the crop of cocoons 
comes back to what it was in 1911. 

86 



The Levant 87 

It must be explained that mulberry planters and hatchers 
of cocoons are all Armenians or Greeks; that is, Christians. 
They are the only intelligent and efficient workers in the 
country of the destructive Turk. 

Following the murder of so many Christian families, the 
cutting down and the burning of mulberry trees, more than 
fifty per cent of the farms and hatching houses and sixty 
per cent of the filatures were destroyed and the material 
burned as firewood. 

Since 1918 most of the farmers, instead of growing mul- 
berry trees, have found it more beneficial to grow tobacco 
and cereals. 

The Crop and the Cocoon Business 

The Near East crop of cocoons comes out by the end 
of June. That is three weeks after the Japanese crop and 
six weeks after the Canton crop. 

The filatures begin reeling in July. 

Previous to 1914 a large part of the cocoons from Adrian- 
ople, Salonika, Syria and Bagdad were exported to Europe, 
mainly to Marseilles. 

French steamers calling at several of the seaports where 
cocoons could be shipped, made it a rule to take same as 
part of the cargo at reduced rates, and reduced rates were 
necessary, for it takes a few pounds of cocoons to cover a 
large space. 

These cocoons were brought to Genoa or Marseilles and 
French and Italian filatures made up the deficit of their own 
crops with Levant cocoons. 

Adrianople w^hite cocoons reeled in fine sizes were al- 
ways considered the best in the world for that purpose. 
Cocoons from other places used alone or mixed with natives 
producd some very fine raw silks. In fact Brussa silk 
proves to be of a better tenacity than Japan's and boils off 
two per cent less. Its color is somewhat grayish and does 
not compare favorably with the brilliant w^hite of the Jap- 
anese product. 

The main cocoon markets are Brussa, Moudania, Ismidt, 
Ada Bazar, Biledjick, Adrianople, Salonika, Batoum, Bey- 
routh, and Smyrna. There and around are grouped most 



88 Raw Silk 

of the filatures. All the Caucasian large gummy cocoons 
are used at home. The better ones of regular size are ex- 
ported. 

Evidently the best Turkish cocoons are to be found in 
Brussa where stand also the best filatures. When it is 
possible to bring Caucasian or Bulgarian cocoons to 
Brussa, there will be a possibility of making an excellent 
quality of raw silk out of them. 

Unfortunately the Turkish government insists upon an 
import duty of eight per cent on cocoons and through this 
stupidity some filatures must remain idle through lack of 
cocoons, the eight per cent duty added to the cost of trans- 
portation making prices prohibitive. 

It is a question whether Syria will remain part of the 
Turkish Empire or not. At any rate, raw silks reeled out of 
Syrian yellow cocoons are of a low quality, not very 
much above what is commonly known in New York as 
a Japan No. 1. 

The Syrian (Liban) filatures have been engaged for 
years into reeling fine sizes (9/11, 10/12, 11/13, 12/14) 
exclusively for Lyons manufacturers. In the size 13/15 and 
re-reeled the silk might be good enough for a fair organzine. 

Filatures 

The production of raw silk previous to 1914 was 12,000 
bales of one hundred kilos, equaling about 20,000 Japanese 
bales. 

In 1919 the quantity was reduced to three thousand bales 
of one hundred kilos of which no more than one thousand 
bales (say sixteen hundred bales — Japanese) were fit for 
export in all sizes. 

Before 1914 there were one hundred and forty filatures in 
the Brussa district; there are now about fifty. In Brussa 
city there were thirty-nine filatures before the war. Only 
fourteen worked in 1920 and in April 1920 only two were 
in operation. It is expected that the fourteen filatures will 
resume work next July. 

In Syria there were about one hundred filatures before 
1914. Thirt}^ of them are still standing but are not working 
all the time. 



Tpie Levant 89 

During the wars the filatures which had not been destroyed 
by the Turks were operated under the supervision of Ger- 
man business men but no attention was paid to the quality 
or size and it became a rule to reel a sort of 14/17, size of 
which ran from nine to tw^enty-four. 

After the armistice, French firms who have long had 
extensive interests in filatures and cocoon business in Tur- 
key, sent again their representatives to Constantinople and 
have met with the utmost difficulties in dealing with the 
reelers. Add to this the bad faith of dealers, the robberies, 
the travelling difficulties, the postal restrictions, the shortage 
of labor, not mentioning the poor qualities of raw silks. 

General Conditions of Filatures 

All the filatures in the Near East are modern and employ 
the Italian system of reeling said to be (a la tavelette) 
from four to six ends. The very latest improvement was 
brought to Brussa by a Swiss with an eight-ended reeling 
machine. The silk is neither cross reeled nor re-reeled 
but goes straight on the travellers with one or two, rarely 
three, lacings. The size of the skeins now universally 
adopted is fifty centimeters, that is like the standard Amer- 
ican skeins minus the cross reeling. 

Steam is obtained from wood, but when a few years 
ago, coal was imported at a low enough figure, it was substi- 
tuted for wood. At the present time wood is again to the 
fore. Several filatures would like to change to gasoline 
motors, as American oil is now sold at a price low enough 
to eliminate the burning of wood. The filatures work ten 
hours per day, producing about five hundred grams of silk 
per day and basin. The average number of basins per fila- 
ture is sixty, so that a filature of sixty basins produces 
about two bales of one hundred kilos per week of six days. 

A native superintendent receives Turkish £50 per month. 
The head reeling girl receives fifty piastres per day and a 
first class reeling girl thirty. Each filature has the neces- 
sary apparatus for the packing and testing of raw silk. 

In Brussa, the filatures which are situated near the 
mineral springs make a superior quality which was known 



90 Raw Silk 

before the war as Grand extra but now the poor help has 
brought down the gradings considerabh\ 

Sizes from 16/18 up fetch the same price. Sizes 14/16 
and 13/15 usually cost fifty piastres more per kilo, and 
finer, another fifty piastres. All depends on the condition 
of business at the time of purchase. 

Quality and Prices 

The best cocoons and most modern filatures being in 
Brussa, it is interesting >to compare the quality of these 
silks wdth the products of other countries. The so-called 
Grand Extra of Brussa has never equalled an Extra 
Classical Italian, a double Extra of Japan or an E. Wo of 
China. But many French or Italian filatures have reeled 
Extra Classical out of Brussa cocoons because when it 
comes to skilled work and perfection of reeling, the Ar- 
menians or Greeks employed in the Brussa filatures are 
very much lacking in ability and do not seem to be able to 
equal European girls. 

The silk called and sold in Lyons as Brussa Premier 
Ordre (first class) is very similar to an Italian Best Classi- 
cal or if especially well reeled, to a Japan Best Extra or 
N. Y. XXB. During 1919, no more than three hundred bales 
of real first class silk were reeled in Brussa in 13/15. The 
quality commonly ofifered was no better than an Extra Japan 
and in the sizes 20/23 and 24/26 some four hundred bales 
could have been exported to America in competition with 
Japanese and Chinese filatures, especially as prices for a 
long time were very much lower than those of Japan and 
China. 

When the map is revised once more, the following cen- 
ters will prove interesting for American investors, to build 
up again the raw silk industry in the Levant: 

Greece — Adrianople and Salonika. 

Bulgaria — Brussa (seaport, Moudania). 

Syria — Beyrouth, Bagdad. 

Caucasus — Batoum. 

Persia — Reck (Province of Erivan). 

Cyprus. 



The Levant 



01 



Filatures in Turkey 

City Number 

Ada Bazar 6 

Asian bey 1 

Bardizak 3 

Beyrouth 14 

Biledjik 16 

Brussa 40 

Keupleu 15 

Lefke 3 

Ortakuy 8 

Saida 4 

Senyut 3 

Tripoli 1 



114 



Filatures in Greece 

City Number 

Adrianople 3 

Athens 7 

Galamata 3 

Lepante 1 

Nauplie 2 

Patras 2 

Sparta 1 

Syra 2 

Volo 1 



22 



I 



I 



Part III 

RAW SILK IN THE FAR EAST 



Chapter I. 

Raw Silk Inspection in the 
Far East 

THE position of the silk buyer and inspector in China 
and Japan is ver}^ different today from what it was a 
few years back. 

Sixty years ago steamers called only now and then at 
the ports of Yokohama, Shanghai, and Canton, convey- 
ing orders for many hundred bales at a time to be bought 
or shipped within a year. The estabhshed representative 
houses had plenty of time to go into the country to buy, 
assort and inspect the lots of silk which were scattered all 
over in small quantities. The cost of raw silk was ten 
dollars or over. Buying commissions were no less than 
five per cent. A very close inspection of the raw was 
necessar}^ because of the rough process of reeling, making 
lots very mixed in color, size, cleanliness and quality. 
Fraudulent matters as lead, dust, even stones were some- 
times concealed in the skeins or hanks, so that practically 
every pound of silk had to be opened and viewed closely. 
Silk was bought then for gold or silver in cash, for there 
was no such banking organizations and letters of credit as 
today. 

Later on, with progress," steamers called oftener, and the 
first filatures in the European style were opened under the 
supervision of foreigners. Japan sent a number of students 
to Lyons to learn the art of reeling in the greatest silk 
center. A number of French inspectors went to Japan and 
helped in the management of the first filatures. These 
students worked in filatures and later on brought to Japan 
complete apparatus, exact copies of the European systems, 
and a model filature was built, where the native girls could 
be trained in the reeling of silk. 

95 



96 Raw Silk 

At the same time, instead of the three or four companies 
that, besides tea, mattings, and other sundries, used to ex- 
port silk, other companies opened branches to inspect silk 
excluaively. The British were the first to establish a bank 
in Hong Kong, a step which was quickly followed by other 
nations in the open ports. 

With the increase in demand for Asiatic silks, the natives 
started hatching more eggs every year, and the farmers be- 
gan to turn out a few more pounds of silk every season. 
At the same time ,the value of the article began to decrease 
and competition being keen in buying centers, the commis- 
sions had to be reduced. The buyers no longer needed to 
go into the interior to buy and inspect the raw, as filatures 
placed their interests in the hands of commission houses 
who could better conserve their interests on the spot. Native 
reelers sold their little output to large associations, who 
simply assorted the silk to send it on the markets under 
several gradings to be sold at a certain limit. Such silks 
were later on re-reeled to obtain more regularity in the 
quality. 

Thus the Shanghai tsatlees were improved into cross- 
reels and new style re-reels, steam filatures under super- 
vision of skilled Italians, ranked equal to European filatures. 
Tussahs were improved from an almost unutilizable thread, 
into a very good article. 

In Canton the ''paquetailles" made up of an impossible 
mixture were improved as to reel 11/13 deniers currently. 
Re-reeling was introduced to respond to the American de- 
mand. The filatures gave the best results, according to the 
class of cocoons, and could be improved only by an extra re- 
reeling as done in Japan. 

Japan, in her w^onderful civilization, took every opportun- 
ity to improve the best of her revenues, and even that rem- 
nant of old times, viz.: the Kakedas, can be relied upon to 
give good satisfaction. Such improvements could not be 
done without many changes in the course of business, until 
transactions became more and more difficult and buying 
almost impossible without speculation. 

In Canton the silk firmis are well established on the Island 
of Shameen, where all foreigners live. Each firm, besides 






Raw Silk Inspection in the Far East 97 

offices and lodging, must own a large storage, called "go- 
down," where inspection is made, and a full staff of native 
employees, including a compradore (cashier, acting as 
banker, usually a rich retired merchant; he gets a commis- 
sion on everything), a silk superintendent, and a number of 
coolies, whose work is to take care of the go-down, reeling 
machines and charcoal fires, which must be kept burning 
all the time, even in the hottest days, as the climate is 
so damp that the silk absorbs a large percentage of mois- 
ture. All the men, either to reel the silk at the winding- 
table or to pack and carry the bales, are provided for by 
/the silk merchants. 

These silk merchants, each one of them being agent of 
a number of filatures, call on the foreign firms every day. 
The language spoken between them and the buyers is a 
mixture of English and Chinese, called "Pidgin," as, for in- 
stance, to say: "Do you want to buy twenty bales of No. 1 
Pit Cheong Ling, spot delivery," this is what you hear: 
"Suppose you wantchee twenty bailee taiyat Pit Cheong 
Ling, my can bling chop chop this place." 

However, the difficulty lies elsewhere. Formerly business 
was on a steady order and commission basis, and every 
firm was almost certain to figure on two per cent, to three 
per cent, net profit on the whole business, but since specu- 
lation on the part of some strong organizations started, 
buying has become very difficult. Some firms not only 
buy against orders, but in expectation of a rise, to resell on 
the market. These firms are crowded all day with silk 
merchants, while small firms hardly have a chance except 
if begging for offers. Necessarily commissions have been 
reduced to a very small margin. 

The Chinese are very reliable, and their word is as good 
as gold; that is, no contract need be signed between buyer 
and seller, whether for prompt or future deliveries. 

The difficulty is that Cantonese filatures are irregular. A 
perfect lot of Hau King Lon might be followed by a lot of 
inferior quality. Some XXA fall easily to XXB grade, and 
vice versa. This fact has been ascertained several times. 
Still the American consumer sticks to chop ticket, even if 
he is told that another chop comes out better. 



98 Raw Silk 

I remember an instance when I cabled a customer that a 
lot of Hau King Lon was a poor winder, and that I could 
replace with Kum Lun Tai, then an XXB, which was ex- 
ceptionally up to crack chop. The customer insisted on 
getting the Hau King Lon, and was ver}^ sorry when the 
silk proved bad on the looms. 

It is a mistake to think that silk inspection is carried on 
in Canton bj' merely kicking the side of the bales. There is 
no article of merchandise that demands a closer inspection 
than Canton silks on account of the perfect similitude of 
all grades. The books are all of one and the same cream, 
shining and soapy color. It is only when the skeins are 
opened that the cleanliness, uniformit}^ of the thread and 
quality are detected. Almost every skein must be inspected 
to get rid of the uneven ones, as there are sometimes any 
amount of fine ends. A full two hours' winding is neces- 
sary to report the right number of breaks. As there is 
no conditioning house worthy of the name there, any mis- 
take on the inspector's part mJght prove very costly. 

The American buyer, by insisting on securing the chop 
ticket, is standing against a good inspection, and runs the 
risk of getting an inferior choice which the inspector will 
ship at his express order, notwithstanding that lots some- 
times classified in the lower grades could be found to ful- 
fill the requirements. 

The speculators have naturally an easy job securing the 
best lots on the market, leaving other buyers to fight over 
what remains to be sold. Another difficulty is the varying 
silver exchange, which is always an important question in 
cabling firm offers. 

Barring these difficulties, Canton is still one of the produc- 
ing centers where an enterprising firm, with a small capital, 
but good customers, can make a good living. The amenity 
and truthfulness of the Chinese dealers account for this. 

If conditions in China are getting very hard on account 
of speculation and keen competition, the position of the silk 
inspector in Japan can only be said to be worse. The staff 
of a silk house is more numerous, as every working hand 
must be provided by the firm. As in China, the silk 
dealers, representing a number of filatures, call on the 



Raw Silk Inspection in the Far East 99 

buyers, and conversation is held in Japanese, or through an 
interpreter and reporter called "Banto." Inspection in 
China and Japan does not differ much, technically speaking. 
Most of the time the silk is in stock on the market and is 
brought to the inspection rooms as soon as purchased. 

In Canton, silks are conveyed from the country on armed 
junks and delivered to the customer in shirting bags. Bales 
are made of about ten books, w^eighing 106 2/3 pounds, 
or eighty catties. In Shanghai the customary weight of 
bales is one picul. In Japan silk comes from the country in 
boxes of about sixteen books each. One bale is made up 
with twenty-eight to thirty-one books, weighing around 
one picul (132.277 pounds). These books are piled up in 
the inspection rooms, and a number of skeins extracted 
at .the inspector's choice from the whole lot to make the 
winding and sizing tests. 

Afterward if the results are satisfactory, the inspector 
standing in front of the window specially constructed to get 
the full benefit of the light, inspects every book of silk, one 
after the other. He has then a chance to detect ,the different 
shadings, and by opening skeins now and then, to judge if 
the quality is satisfactory, that is, good enough for the de- 
sired purpose. If inspection is passed the lot is v^eighed 
at once. 

In Canton, where there is no conditioning house, the 
dealer usually makes the w^eight full. In Japan, silks are 
weighed very strictly, as the conditioning house makes a 
free test for the buyer, and any loss of weight is made 
good by the seller. All silks, being accepted, are paid for 
at once. 

If the silk is not satisfactory it can be refused; it for- 
merly had to be replaced by the seller, but at present 
handlers rather suit themselves, according to the tone of the 
market. 

When buying a certain class of goods, and in the event 
of a purchase, the silk usually responds to the classification. 
In China, no samples are required. In Japan, it is very sel- 
dom, except when contracting for futures, duly signed and 
dated, that a lot of silk is bought without seeing a sample. 
I may mention here that many dealers are strict with their 



100 Raw Silk 

engagements, and that a lot bought from them, is at least 
equal to sample; but how many disreputable ones carr}^ on a 
shameless business by substituting lots of inferior grades 
having no resemblance whatever to the sample on which 
classification the lot is bought! This is indeed the manipu- 
lation of employees and brokers, as in most of the cases the 
manager is a respectable man who ignores these proceed- 
ings; but nevertheless such abuses tend to thrown much dis- 
credit on the Japanese character. Another trouble comes 
from the reelers themselves, who are getting more and more 
careless in keeping the standard of their brands. Certain 
chops cannot be relied upon twice as giving the same re- 
sults. In order to produce more, they work too fast in the 
filatures, and all supervision has been dropped. I refer only 
to silks under the grade of Best I Yokohama classification, 
for the upper grades, especially the Extras, are still up to 
their reputation, mostly on account of the perfect cocoons 
used. 

In the lower grades I have seen silks of a grade poorer 
than No. 2 Sinshiu, offered under a nice chop and blue 
strings as a No. 1 filature. There is evidenth' a belief 
among the Japanese dealers that once in a while such rotten 
stuff will be accepted and shipped when nothing else can 
be found. 

Where the small silk buyer receives the hardest blow is 
in his competition with the Japanese speculators and han- 
dlers of the raw on consignment, and for the account of 
manipulators in the interior. The big manipulator, as usual, 
is little by little getting rid of his small competitor. After 
reducing their profits to the bone, until they are nearly 
starving, the small firms, one after another will be com- 
pelled to leave the place clean for the Japanese bankers, 
who will always have enough money to finance the business 
so as to produce the best revenue for themselves. Espe- 
cially is this so as silk is Japan's most important article 
of export and is productive of more wealth for that country 
than any other article of merchandise. 

Would the trade gain by such an elimination of competi- 
tion? It may save one or two per cent, on the commission, 
but there being no competition, the necessity of a direct 



Raw Silk Inspection in the Far East 101 

inspection would be eliminated and consecjuently the grad- 
ing of silk w^ould have to be determined on this side of the 
water by the buyer himself. I will point out in another 
chapter the disturbances created by the workings of the 
Yokohama Silk Exchange, and shall only add that the 
manipulations related above on the part of some unreliable 
dealers might be on account of unfortunate speculations, 
for almost all dealers gamble more or less openly and the 
fluctuations of the Bourse have much to do with raw silk 
transactions. 

Thus business conditions are becoming very difficult in the 
Far East for foreigners. Taking in addition the lower 
salaries paid to silk men and the cost of living becoming 
higher every day, it goes to show that China and Japan 
wxre happy lands some years ago, compared to the pres- 
ent time. The Japanese, at least, are beginning to find out 
that within a few years they will control entirely their 
national industry. 



Chapter 1 1. 



Japan 
I. 

Japanese Filatures 

IN order to give the reader the clearest possible view of 
silk reeling in Japan, it is perhaps wxll to relate a trip 
made in April, 1908, by the author, accompanied by a friend, 
to Kofu, where the well-known Koshu silks are reeled for 
the American mills. 

We took the seven A. M. train at Yokohama and reached 
Shinbashi Station, Tokyo, at seven forty-five A. M. The 
trolley car carried us across the city to Uyeno station where 
we took the nine A. M. train. 

From Tokyo to Hachioji (another large silk center) the 
scenery is made up only of plains, covered with rice fields, 
The wide plain is left behind and a long tunnel entered, 
which cuts through the Kobotoke pass. Emerging on the 
other side, we enter the charming valley of Katsuma-gawa. 
After another long tunnel, the peaky hills and tiny hamlets 
on the right bank of the river Tsuru-kawa present a series 
of charming glimpses all the way. At Saruhashi, perpen- 
dicular cliffs frown down upon the dark emerald stream, 
which is narrow and deep at this point. Then, at Ozuki, we 
enter the valley of Hanasaki-gawa, passing by villages de- 
voted to the breeding of silkworms. The natives make use 
at the same time of the many streams to drive their looms 
and throwing plants. 

Passing through the tunnel of Sasago (three miles), we 
enter the province of Koshu and suddenly obtain views of 
granite ranges hitherto unseen. Mount Fuji is visible now 
and then over the tops of a range bounding the plains to 
the south. Mulberry trees and vineyards are extensively 

102 



Japan 103 

grown here. We noticed with pleasure that mulberry 
leaves were only beginning to sprout and that the freezing 
had occurred much too soon to do any harm to the young 
vegetation. We did not think it possible that an accurate 
report could be made on the crop before the middle of May, 
and the rumors which had been cabled out during April 
had no foundation whatever. 

Kofu is only seventy-six miles from Tokyo. It is en- 
circled by a barrier of lofty mountains 6,000 to 10,000 feet 
high, and an extraordinary amount of tunneling has had 
to be resorted to, with the result that much of the beauty 
for which this route w^as formerly noted has been sacrificed. 
There are no less than forty tunnels, with an aggregate 
length of twelve miles out of the fifty-three miles traversed 
between Hachioji and Kofu. 

Outside of Kofu, places like Mitake, the gorge of Aka- 
wara, as w^ell as the granite mountain of Kimpuza, w^ould 
suffice to make the trip worth taking. Kofu is the capital 
of the province of Koshu (Chinese name) Kai (Japanese 
name), prefecture of Yamanashi, with 39,000 inhabitants. 
The climate is temperate in winter, but on the nineteenth 
of April it was like a summer day. We arrived at four 
P. M., a long and tiresome trip for the distance, and stopped 
at a Japanese inn, called Bosenkaku, in the public garden. 

Springtime is the holiday of nature in Japan, and nothing 
in the world can be compared with the beauty and poetry of 
that inn among cherry blossoms. 

Owing to its large industry in raw silks, Kaiki (a thin 
silken fabric used for the lining of dresses and for bed 
quilts) and beautiful rock crystals, Kofu is a rich city. 
There are several banks, supported by wealthy citizens. 

The silks known as Koshu are well liked by American 
manufacturers, and nearly every pound manufactured in that 
district is exported to New York. Europe do'es not like 
Koshu silks, because their color is too dark; they had 
rather buy Sinshiu silks, which, as a rule, are very white. 
All filatures at Kofu and surrounding villages have been 
long established; the names of Yajima, Wakao, Koseisha, 
Kononsha, Kinposha, Hakureisha, Koyokan, Fusosha. 
Asahisha, Yamatogumi, Yawata, Kusanagisha, Mitsubishi, 



104 Raw Silk 

arc well known to the trade as standards of high 
grades. Being closely in touch with the American market 
they have always done their best to bring out the latest 
improvements for the benefit of their customers, although 
they seem to be still under the impression that quantity 
pays more than quality. 

We visited several filatures; the Yajima, one of the 
largest, was reeling at top speed a lovv^ grade to be exported 
under the chop "Kyoseisha" as a quality equal to New York 
No. 1. The cocoons used were from the autumn crop; the 
thread seemed very dirty and irregular. The Japanese 
reelers make only two distinctions in the crop's season. 
When spun from cocoons raised during May and June, 
silks are called Aru. They are by far the best. When spun 
from cocoons raised in autumn, silks are called Aki. No 
raw silk is sold in Yokohama as summer or winter silks. 
Accordingly, reelers apply different chop tickets to silks 
of spring and autumn. 

The system of reeling adopted is now completely ''a la 
tavelette," because the .twisting does not require so much 
supervision when running more than four ends in each 
basin. Only in one or two cases there was an extra girl 
to prepare the cocoons (blaze out and draw the first thread) 
for every two basins; otherwise, each girl does that work 
herself. 

In the Kusanagisha filatures (fifteen hundred basins), they 
were reeling the ''Gold bag" quality out of dry spring cocoons. 
There was a little less speed in 'the travelers. By examin- 
ing a few skeins, we convinced ourselves that the silk of 
Koshu stands as the perfect representation of the hard- 
natured silks so sought after in America. It certainly comes 
from a quality of cocoons which are also to be found in 
Shimoosa, Hitachi, Kasuza, Yashiu, Djoshiu, etc. They 
contain a larger percentage of fibroin than cocoons from 
any other district. Notwithstanding the proverbial irregu- 
larity of Koshu silks (due, no doubt, to the lack of super- 
vision in the filatures), the fibres have more tenacity and 
wind better than other silks of equal quality, and they are 
so firmly spun that they always make a good organzine. 
The faults are the dark color and the dustiness of the 



Japan 105 

thread, which makes it difficult for it 'to rank equal to the 
best Oshiu Extra. The latter have not as much strength 
in the thread, but are much whiter, cleaner, and always 
show a perfect regularity in the size. 

We saw several other filatures w^hich are all of four 
hundred to fifteen hundred basins, with latest improvements 
— steam engines and electric lighting (throughout. We 
were at all times kindly entertained by the owners of the 
places, gentlemen of education and refinement. At our 
request, we w^ere shown every detail in the manufacture. 
One fact impressed us more than anything. All, except 
the steam engine and the tin lining of the basins, was built 
of wood. Everything — the walls, the frame work, the 
reelers, the testing machines, the scales, etc., etc., — was 
made as simpl}^ as possible of solid wood setting, each piece 
fitting in the other without a nail or screw. This, of course, 
we had seen in small filatures, but were indeed surprised 
to find the same cheapness of construction in such impor- 
tant establishments. Evidently, in Europe, a large amount 
of money invested in heavy buildings, steel apparatus and 
expensive machinery, could -be saved by building cheaper 
factories w^here, after all, the quality of work, skill and 
workmanship speak better for the sale of the goods than 
costly basins. This is one of the tricks young, practical 
Japan is teaching old Europe. 

We also noticed in every office a telephone connection 
with Yokohama, so that every little move on the latter 
market can be talked over. Such up-to-date equipment is 
rarely seen in Europe either. Any respectable town in 
Japan could not do without a Race Course and a Bourse 
nowadays. The small Silk Exchange at Kofu follows 
closely the Yokohama quotations in reference to the Yoko- 
hama Silk Exchange. 

Most of the Kofu filatures, especially at the beginning of 
the silk season, are in activity every day from five A. M. 
to eleven P. M., these eighteen hours' work being cut 
down by five or six times a ten to twenty minutes' inter- 
val for meals and tea distribution, which is provided by 
employers. The girls are paid from fifteen to twenty-five 
cents a day. We asked several girls how they liked 



106 Raw Silk 

their hard work. The^^ repHed: ''Amari suki degozaimasu'' 
(We hke it!) But one must go far to see a dissatisfied 
Japanese. They have a good deal of the old Chinese 
philosophy, especially in the country. 

In each filature the work was thus divided; first the 
reeling; second, the re-reeling (w^hile the re-reeling is done, 
a little skein of four hundred and fifty meters is taken 
from the reel and later on attached to the big skein in 
order that the denier weight of same can be ascertained) ; 
third, putting ties or capiures; fourth, hanks inspection (a 
very light and superficial examination merely to see that 
capiures are fixed right); fifth, folding into skeins; sixth, 
weighing the little skeins obtained during the re-reeling, so 
that corresponding big skeins weighing too much more 
than the standard size may be put aside. 

Once we w^aited to watch the size testing, and saw that 
some skeins weighed as much as one denier out of the size, 
which was supposed to be 13/15. The man wrote down the 
name of the reeling girl, but did not put aside such skeins; 
they were simply mixed with others. From this we under- 
stood why the Koshu Extra shows sometimes a variation 
of 6/7 deniers in the size. The reelers ought at least to 
make a choice and keep the 12/14 and 14/16 skeins to- 
gether, respectively. It might take some time to complete 
a bale of such sizes, but the regularity of the 13/15 would 
be saved. The skeins are packed into square books, stringed, 
labeled, covered with thick paper, and put in boxes of 
sixteen books each, ready to be shipped to Yokohama. 

Besides the rooms occupied by the above operations, 
there are several ofiices where a num1)cr of clerks work. 
Also, a large space where, at meal hours, straw mats are 
laid down and the girls called to eat their fish and rice. 
At such moments the room is crowded with hundreds of 
girls, seated closely and making up in noise what they 
were compelled to keep back while at work — a regular 
bird cage. The meal finished, they rush back to work. 
The place is left just as clean as before — ^the floor varnished; 
not a stain to be seen. We admired the scrupulous clean- 
liness of the Japanese, with his lj>are feet and chopsticks. 
Twenty European girls, eating in the same room, would 



Japan 



10? 



have soiled it so as to require a complete cleaning up 
afterwards. Cleanliness is a rule in Japan, and is kept 
strictly in the filatures. Notwithstanding their arduous 
work over boiling water, the girls' clothing is always 
neat and decent. 

Near the main building there is a fireproof house to keep 
the dry cocoons. Ther^ is also sufficient room for selecting 
cocoons. In some places quite a quantity of silk waste 
was laid open on the ground to whiten and dry. Some 
women were employed outside to reel out double cocoons 




Outside View of a Japanese Filature 



into tamaitos (douppions). In one instance the whole ap- 
paratus consisted of one basin containing cocoons and the 
girl reeling the coarse threads around her fingers. 

To see all the Kofu filatures would take at least a week, 
so we were contented to see a few of them. We were 
very glad in the evening to reach our hostelry, where an 
almost boiling bath was awaiting us to relieve our fatigue. 
And at dinner time, with some local silk men, seated on 
the tatamis, looking through the open sliding windows we 
breathed the cool, perfumed breeze of the night, while the 
moon was shining on the beautiful cherry blossoms. The 
moon rays illumined the miniature lake in the garden be- 
low, where enormous red fishes jumped out of the water 
like silver. The servant girls brought us raw salmon, pickled 



108 Raw Silk 

turnips, extraordinary dishes, and plenty of rice wine. But 
we were looking at the scenery all the time. No wonder 
the Nippons are happy in their dreamland. A strange and 
sweet music came from behind, and, there, kneeling at 
the door, were geishas, without whom no entertainment is 
complete. 

Note, 1921. — Since the alcove was written, much improvement has 
been introd.uced in all filatures of Japan, especially as regards super- 
vision. Several Kofu filatures have improved their grading to Double 
Extra. 

II. 

The Silk Exchange 

One of the unpleasant experiences of the silk exporter in 
Japan is to discover, on reaching his office in the morning, 
that the "jo ichi ban" No. 1 Filature, equal to Sinshiu Okaya, 
is quoted at the Bourse, ten yen or more above the closing 
price of the previous evening; next, his ''banto," Japanese 
employee, will rush in: ''Sir, Messrs. So and So and Messrs. 
An Other & Co. have received large orders from America, 
the Japanese firms are in the market (they are always) 
and the Silk Exchange is going up rapidly." 

This report is the same in every exporting house. If 
you have a fresh order or an old one which you were 
holding back in the hope of a decline, you will most of 
the time cover yourself at once, very glad if you do not pay 
the advance. Your neighbor thinks himself wiser, he buys 
twice as much as his orders amount to. The next man 
buys without orders at all, and some others place an order 
at the Silk Exchange, expecting a further advance. 

Very quickly prices jump higher and higher. You did 
w^ell to cover yourself and you now regret that you did not 
buy more. You smile over your lunch, but at two P. M, 
you find that 3^our *'banto" is also smiling. 

''Bourse down yen five." 

"Why?" 

"Messrs. So and So are cancelling all their purchases." 

"What about An Other & Co.?" 

"They did not buy, waiting for lower prices." 

"And the Japanese?" 



Japan 109 

''They bought at the Bourse this morning at yen nine 
hundred, but are reselhng all they can, now, at yen nine 
hundred and twenty." 

At four P. M. quotation has declined to yen nine hun- 
dred and ten, and finally comes down to the starting point, 
but the next morning it is up again, and so on. 

The a"bove story happens when the market is quiet, but 
when there is real buying the excitement and the way the 
quotations are pushed up at the Silk Exchange are impos- 
sible to describe. In fact, there is so much speculation 
going on at the Bourse that sometimes the real prices find 
difficulties following it. During the year 1907-1908, the 
Yokohama Silk Exchange had to close its doors the day 
speculation pushed the quotation up to yen seventeen hun- 
dred, when yen fifteen hundred could not be obtained for 
spot silk. The same thing was repeated during 1920, when 
a fictitious value of 5,000 yen was given. 

Transactions are made in two ways: Either ready or 
three months' deliveries. A brokerage of yen two is paid 
on each bale for ready and yen four for three months 
deliveries. No deposit is asked up to three bales and about 
yen ten per bale above this number. The delivery of goods 
is optional. Two or three large Yokohama firms specu- 
late against actual deliveries, but the bulk of business is 
for cash. 

Some of the large Yokohama firms find a substantial food 
at the Bourse for itheir speculative spirits. It is very easy 
for a large firm when receiving a good-sized order to hold 
on to it, and buy at the Bourse first at current prices. The 
second thing is to get in the market and to start buying. 
It is understood that prices are very sensitive to the ad- 
vance. Such a large firm getting in the market will drag 
along other firms vdth ready orders or sometimes without. 
The dealers are asking more money and the Bourse leaps 
upward. The originators of the advance have now covered 
themselves, and, according to circumstances, cancel at once 
or later their contract with the Bourse and pocket the 
difference. 

There is no doubt that such an institution is demoralizing. 



110 Raw Silk 

and it is with the utmost difficuUies that silk huying is 
effected at Yokohama. 

Filature mien in the country are constantly speculating, 
and you discover that a lot of silk has been sent to the 
Bourse when it should have been sent to you, or, when 
you expect a silk equal to chop from some one, you only 
receive a second thread because the first thread has been 
delivered to the Bourse. Your customer wants a fila- 
ture of summer reeling, and 3^ou answer that there is 
only an autumn reeling to be found, but three months later 
one of your competitors ships the same summer reeled 
chop which has come out fresh from the Bourse. 

These happenings and many others make it difficult for 
the silk inspectors to keep well posted on the innumerable 
Japanese filatures. A badly regulated market is always per- 
turbing, because the slightest news, the smallest purchases, 
are sufficient to send the Bourse upward, and when the 
market is dull, prices come down just as quickl3^ 

The only remedy would be to close the Yokohama Silk 
Exchange altogether, but, of course, this suggestion could 
hardly be realized among Japanese merchants, as there is 
hardly one of them who is not constantly gambling on the 
Bourse. Even the poorest salesmen combine to buy or sell 
a few bales, and it is really a sight to see at Yokohama, 
when ithe market is excited, in every firm, Japanese or 
foreign, the rooms where the ''bantos" and salesmen meet, 
transformed into gambling dens. 

This state of affairs is to be deplored, for the firms who 
are not speculators have no other means of livelihood than 
their knowledge of the thread. 



III. 



Silk Waste 

The silk wastes of Japan are divided into innumerable 
varieties resulting from the differences in the reeling proc- 
esses of each district as much as from the manipulations 
of native middlemen. Following is a description of the 
qualities mostly dealt in: 



Japan 111 

Noshiitos 

Kikai Noshis arc a steam waste about equal to Italian 
frisons, but with more "nerve" and without any silky ap- 
pearance. The color varies from w^hite to dark gray, ac- 
cording to the amount of oil}^ matter and chrysalides mixed 
in. The color can be improved by opening and dr3ang in 
sunlight. 

The Kikai Noshis vary greatly with the districts and 
are divided into several qualities from Extra to No. 4. 

They are usually sold at the proportion basis, say, sixt}^ 
No. ], thirty No. 2 and ten No. 3, with an allowance of 
five per cent, for dust on the cost price. The Kikai Noshis, 
good for export, are by valuation order: 

Oshiu Noshis. 

Hossoris. 

Hachiojis. 

Sinshiu Noshis. 

Djoshiu Noshis. 

Kikai Kibizzos 

The Kibizzos are a kind of steam waste in which the 
fibres are rolled in little balls mixed w4th long fibres and 
a little percentage of sundry w'aste. That kind of waste 
is largely exported to England and America. 

Zaguris 

These are the product of hand filatures. They contain 
more silky matter than other kind of vvaste, but more dust 
at the same time. 

Mawatas 

Mawatas are the product of double and pierced cocoons 
opened, w^ashed and worked into a mass very much like 
bourrettes. 

Hiras and Neriwatas 

The cocoons once dropped at the bottom of the basin are 
picked up to be dried, the chrysalides taken off and the re- 
maining dried white and mixed up with all the silk waste 
outside of Noshiitos and Kibizzos left in the filature. Such 



113 



Raw Silk 



waste contains as much as ten to fifteen per cent of dust 
and is sold at a very low price. The value of that waste 
increases in proportion to the quantity of ''bassines" (partly 
unwound cocoons) found in each lot. 

The only qualities brought to New York for the use of 
the spun silk mills are Noshiitos and Kibizzos in the best 
choices, say, Extra and No. 1. The schappe industry is 
growing in America and the home product can compete 
fairly well with the threads imported from France and 
Italy. A good future is predicted for this industry, and the 




Silk Waste Drying in a Filature Yard 



import of silk waste (Japanese and Chinese) is growing 
every year. There certainly would be a larger import of 
Japan waste silk to America if it did not contain so much 
adulteration, such as hair, rope, matches, filature refuse, 
which are to be found even in the best grades and prove 
very troublesome to the mills. 

IV. 
Re-Reels 

We have seen how Japanese filatures, after being spun 
in the usual process, that is, mostly "a la tavelette," pass 
through a re-reeHng department which is not part of the 
European filatures. 



Japan 113 

Let us now study the Japanese Zaguris, which are known 
in the trade as re-reels. Most of the large re-reeling es- 
tablishments, like Kanrasha, Usuisha, Shimonita, Kosuisha, 
have opened their factories in cities where the larger part 
of ,the inhabitants are farmers. They all, more or less, pro- 
duce cocoons and cultivate mulberry trees. For instance, 
in Mayebashi, an important place of 37,000 souls, the 
houses are mostly farms, where some hands can be spared 
at home, and it is among those hands that Zaguris are 
spun. If you go through the small muddy streets of the 
town, you will see in nearly every house an old woman 
working over a small basin full of water, kept boiling over 
a charcoal fire. She is turning the wheel with one hand, 
and reeling the thread with the other. 

Some farmers provide their own cocoons, but usually 
the factories buy from them and make a selection accord- 
ing to quality and color, and then each basin is again 
provided with cocoons to be spun in a certain size. If, 
according to the factory test, five cocoons are necessary 
to spin 13/15, a general order is given to all hands to 
use five cocoons. Now^ most of the women employed 
by the factories are very experienced; they are old women, 
who cannot be used in outside hard w^ork, but there is no 
doubt that their ability and attention is much above the 
average of the young girls in the filatures, and the em- 
ployer is pretty sure to get a good silk from them, that 
is, as much as the deficient machinery will permit. From 
the above, it seems that by giving good cocoons to ex- 
perienced hands, Zaguris ought to be better than filatures, 
and it has been actually a mistake of some to believe 
so. It would be nearer the truth to say that such good 
workmanship prevents them from being too bad because 
the reeling machine used to spin these Zaguris cannot and 
never will produce a standard thread like filatures. 

Let us describe it roughly: A small basin is placed directly 
above the fire, which cannot be kept uniform in tempera- 
ture. The water may be from cold to boiling, and con- 
sequently the cocoons will unwind more or less easily, 
and the color of the thread will differ at the same time. 
Besides, there is no twisting whatever, as in any systematic 



J14 



Raw Silk 



filature. The thread is roughly turned around a couple 
of liairs nailed to one side of the basin and goes directly 
on the wheel. If the twnst gives elasticity to the thread it 
also makes it regular, and the process of passing it through 
the hairs ma}^ be useful in stopping the loops, nests and 
sundry dust, but it does not in any case improve it. When 
the small w^inder is covered, it is taken to the factories, 
where the same process as used in filatures is gone through, 
that is, re-reeling from the small winder into a larger one 
as fast as possible, so that the fine ends do not fail to 
break and are at once retied. 

A small skein of four hundred and fifty meters is taken 



Hi 


1 


H p, 
.l'^*i 






' u 


'*HM 


1 'IHhU^^^^H 


H^^^H ''*'"' 


lHllii 


iflHli 


'ti ^^H 




lllilli 


.llllli 

m 





American Staxdard Re-reeled Skeixs • 

from each tavelle and carefully weighed, so that three or 
more selections are made according to size. Then another 
selection is made according to color, and the most regular 
skeins are packed and shipped as best and the others as 
lower qualities, and that is all — no cleaning, no special 
process to improve on the regularity. An exporte? asked 
the manager of one of the leading factories why no special 
care was taken in the production of his silks. His answ-er 
was: ''We have no time, and our customers are satisfied 
with our products." 

"Have you never tried to improve your chops by careful 
cleaning and also with some kind of twisting apparatus at- 
tached to the basin?" 



Japan 115 

The man took him to an abandoned room, where he saw 
a few cleaners formerly ordered from Zurich. 

"We used them for a season," said he, *'but we lost time 
and money, as our customers from America did not give 
us a cent more for our trouble." 

It would not be right to say that re-reels are superior to 
Japanese filatures, but one thing can be said in safety: It is 
that the cocoons used to make Zaguris are especially good, 
and, being reeled by clever hands, they produce a very 
nervy silk, giving splendid winding and filling well in the 
goods. It remains to be said that the improvement needed 
to make of them a silk equal to the filatures (double extra 
grades excepted) rests with the customer, who should be 
willing to pay for the extra work of cleaning, and perhaps 
it would be an easy matter to improve the reeling machine 
by adding to it a simple system of twisting. 

The leading re-reeling establishments are the Usuisha, 
Kanrasha and Shimonita, who are now combining in a 
large corporation to control at least fifteen thousand bales 
of raw. The time is not distant w^hen the re-reels as a 
special article will become a thing of the past. They are 
now offered on the market as regular filatures, and as 
the largest part of such silk goes into tram, manufac- 
. turers are well satisfied. 

V. 
The Crop and How it is Manipulated 

Almost every season, at a certain time, there are rumors 
circulated on the New York market, tending to show that 
the stock of raw silk in Japan will not be sufficient to 
cover the needs of the American and European consumers. 
Any one who has studied closely the Yokohama market for 
the last decade will not pay any attention to these false 
rumors, which only have the result of frightening importers 
and forcing some excitable manufacturers to false steps, 
to be regretted later on. 

The idea of this chapter is to throw a light on the ques- 
tion of crop and stocks in Japan, so that any discussion on 
the subject may be based on logic and facts. 



110 Raw Silk 

The Crops 

It is between the first and the fifteenth of May that ac- 
curate news of the crop's condition can be ascertained. 
According to vegetation the mulberry leaves come out after 
May 1, and the quantity of eggs put into incubation is 
known around May 15. There is a large crop of spring 
cocoons, the first choice of which is reeled all year round, 
but mostl}^ during the summer. The autumn crop is reeled 
in winter, and together with polyvoltins and second choice 
cocoons in spring. But as nine-tenths of the filatures are 
now working all the year round, the terms summer and 
spring reeling are beginning to be a thing of the past, 
and I hope will soon disappear from the New York market. 

The statistics show very plainly that the export of 
Japanese raw silk is increasing at a rapid rate. The 
Japanese, backed by the Government, are using every bit 
of the soil for mulberry trees. During the last ten years, 
the Japanese crop has increased by 100,000 bales. There 
is no shortage in sight for many years to come. 

It was in 1907 that a shortage was really felt; prices went 
up to nearly six dollars per pound for Japan raws on the 
New York market, and even at that price it was hard 
to obtain any. In Japan the sellers had almost nothing to 
offer and were holding what thej^ had on hand at fabulous 
prices. 

It lasted about one month, and behold, at the first sign 
of weakness, when the American mills got tired of paying 
fancy prices, silk arrived in Yokohama from the country 
in amazing quantity. After repeated advices that no more 
Japan silk could be had, it w^as coming as fast as could 
be. Some had been kept secretly in the filatures, some had 
been reeled out of Chinese cocoons. At any rate, the 
market began to come down by leaps and bounds. Such 
differences as one hundred yen per bale on the same silk 
were recorded in one day. Again in 1920, owing to some 
extraordinary speculation and a false idea that the crop 
was exhausted, prices reached seventeen dollars a pound. 
As soon as the demand ceased, the market jumped down, 
and. a decline of ten dollars was recorded in four months, 
with plenty of silk in stock. The Japanese have alw^ays 



Japan 



117 



managed to meet the demand, however great. So-called 
shortages are usually due to speculation or manipulation. 

The Question of Stock 

When one hears about the stock in Japan he may be 
quoted, say ten thousand bales. That figure is wrong, for 
it includes only the silk known by the several dealers of 
raw silk in Yokohama. Supposing that these dealers show 
the figures according to their best knowledge, they never 
know exactly what stock the reelers are carrying in the 
country, and silks that have been offered on a flat and 
declining market quickly disappear as soon as there is a 
firm tone. And when the reelers refuse to sell, it looks as 




Selecting Cocoons in Japanese Filature Warehouse 



if there was no silk to be had, hence a reduced stock. 
Let the market be weak again, and the stock will come 
out larger than ever. 

Cocoons From China and California 

We have seen before that in case of extreme want, the 
Japanese filatures have purchased cocoons from China. 
During 1918-20 several thousand bales reeled out of Chinese 
cocoons were shipped to New York. There the crops 
are unlimited, and if the mulberry trees were cultivated 
to the same extent as in Japan there would be enough 



lis Raw Silk 

silk produced in China to supply the whole world. How- 
ever, the Chinese are lazy and they have not yet grasped 
the fact that they could make more money out of silk. 

On the other hand, the Nippons without loss of time 
have started raising cocoons in Korea and also in Cali- 
fornia. There are very few people aware of the fact that 
a quantity of cocoons raised on the Pacific Coast is sent 
yearly to Japan and reeled there. Some lots of silk sent 
to New York are spun out of American cocoons! 

There is no reason why California cannot raise a great 
quantity of cocoons and sell them to other countries since 
reeling here is too expensive. There is now an active 
society called the Sericultural Association that is studying 
the question of hatching silkworms and many thousands 
of mulberry trees are growing at Rutherford, Napa County, 
Calif. The Society intends to start reeling on a small scale, 
as an experiment, with the co-operation of 3^oung students 
from the Agricultural School. 

If Japan can get these cocoons from different sources 
beside her own, there is very little chance that the crop 
over there shall ever run short. 

Some Qualities May Run Short 

This is the only danger that may result from a quality 
being in demand in excess of production. There is a 
tendenc}^ in Japan to reel a good part of the XX grade 
in sizes from 16/18 up, in order to compete with the 
Italian silks. The quantity of best extras Japans be- 
ing also limited, a large call for both fine and coarse size 
outside of 13/15, would most probably reduce the stocks 
to very small quantities. These shortages would occur 
only in the case of extraordinary demand in a year of 
prosperity, such as we see only once in a while. 

How to Figure on the Yokohama Stock 

The quantity of old silk available in Yokohama at the 
opening of the new crop must be added to it, so that if 
the promised crop for a season is 170,000 bales, we must 
add wliat is left over from the previous season, say, five 
thousand bales, altogether 175,000 bales. When business 



Japan ll'j 

is brisk, figures given by the Yokohama dealers are al- 
ways below actual quantit}^ and ten per cent must be 
added to the visible stock. Never, at any time during the 
season shall that amount be forgotten. 

By keeping in close touch with the statistics of export, 
the stock in Yokohama, the approximate quantity kept back 
in the country and the total amount of silk to be exported 
during the season, there is a better chance of getting the 
right figure than by listening to various rumors that are 
never very accurate, if not based on reasonable facts. 

VI. 

Inspection 

It seems that foreign silk inspectors in China, viz.: 
Shanghai and Canton, have an easy job purchasing from 
stock or contracting far ahead with Chinese merchants. 
Without any sort of contract, except merely a clapping of 
the hands, the goods agreed upon always come in time 
and up to sample. It is the main reason why Chinese 
silks are sold in New York under the merit of their name, 
and very rarely do we see well-known brands come out 
inferior to their usual standard. Even when there is a 
real inferiority, it is due more to the defective crop of 
cocoons than to bad workmanship or manipulations in 
the filatures. 

In Japan the silk inspectors face the real difficulties. 
Firstly, the market is practically in the hands of the large 
speculators, who naturally have control of the larger part 
of the filatures. Secondly, raw silk is becoming more and 
more an article of gambling through the handling of mid- 
dlemen and the operations of the Silk Exchange. Thirdly, 
transactions between buyers and sellers have reached the 
acute point w^here transactions are not based on confidence, 
just as if each party was trying to do the other. Fourthly, 
when the market is active and prices advancing, contracts 
duly signed with the filatures may be considered as naught, 
as reliable dealers are getting to be an unknown thing. 
Fifthly, many Japanese dealers have adopted private chops, 
similar to those used by New York importers, with the only 



120 



Raw Silk 



difference that while the New York importer invented the 
private chop to put his personal guaranty on the quality 
of its deliveries, the Nippon middleman simply covers 
rejected goods in order to be able to sell them again. He 
also sometimes buys a good lot, usually sold as a certain 
grade, and tries to sell it as a better silk under a new chop. 
Thus names of new filatures are multiplying faster than 




Japanese Counthy Reelixg 



potatoes in sunny Japan. Sixthly, two-thirds of the Japa- 
nese filatures have no standard of quality, and can be 
classified only after a very careful inspection. 

An inspector told me that, having bought a ten-bale 
lot of well known chop, he had to reject it on account of 
the quality, the nature being very streaky. The seller took 
back the silk and replaced it the next day with another 



Japan 121 

lot of a different brand. The inspector found the silk pretty 
much the same as the first lot, and in fact, it was the 
same, as he learned later from one of the coolies. Of 
course, he did not accept the silk, but it is said that such 
tricks succeed more than once, especially with a rising 
market, when the buyer has no choice of replacing. There 
is, of course, an old game which, it must be said, is not 
in favor either of the buyer or the seller, and which is 
practised by almost every one with a very few excep- 
tions. In such a case the shrewdest and most experienced 
get the better of the others. It is done in some such 
way as this: The Japanese seller delivers a lot of silk 
which is supposed to be equal to sample. If the market 
comes down, and the lot is not good, the seller is only too 
glad to replace with another; but if the market goes up 
he simply refuses to replace unless at an advanced price. 
The inspector revenges himself as follows: He buys a 
quantity of silk, part of which has not been ordered by 
New York. If the market goes dowm he rejects what is 
not wanted, under the pretext that it is no good, whether 
true or not; but if the market goes up he very quickly 
accepts the w^hole quantity and ships it to best advantage. 

One of the worst troubles is when filatures refuse to 
make deliveries in proper time against signed contracts. 
It is always a matter of ''cancel the order if you cannot 
wait." 

The Yokohama market is so sensitive that sometimes the 
purchase of a ten-bale lot pushes up prices five yen. In 
China we see often the reelers selling at the same price 
continually during several days. When the silk men's 
guild decides to sell, the reelers will all sell at the same 
time, at a fixed price for each grade. After that, they 
may sit still during several months. It is that old basis 
of organization aiid ancestral reliability which guides the 
Chinese and they do not have to live on credit like so 
many Japanese reelers. They will sometimes advance their 
prices only when the stock is reduced to a certain point. 
Hence, firm offers for several days which they are willing 
,to make. In Japan, firm offers are given for twenty-four 
hours in a flat market; but as soon as some excitement 



123 Raw Silk 

prevails, offers are not good for five minutes. With the 
system of telephoning to the head office, and from there 
to the country, the reelers and sellers get so excited 
that they sometimes absolutely refuse to sell at any price. 
An inspector who does not know the game is hand-tied 
and cannot buy anything if he does not take it upon him- 
self to jump at whatever is offered. 

From the few above facts business in Japan appears to be 
indeed very difficult, and only those who are perfectly ac- 
quainted with such dealings and customs have a chance to 
compete. On account of the manipulations taking place be- 
fore the silk reaches the warehouse, the inspector must 
know his silk thread perfectly, because if he relies on the 
chop only, he might accept anything. Most of the foreign 
inspectors in Japan are men of long experience, having 
learned during many years how to deal successfully with 
the filatures. Even then they have difficulties. 

The European firms who are sending very young and 
sometimes inexperienced men at a low cost to buy their 
raws in China do not dare to place their Japanese in- 
terests in other hands than those of first-class business 
men, for otherwise, they would stand a chance of getting 
a few gold bricks. 

VII. 
Private Chops 

There is a burning controversy between the buyer and the 
seller about the chop question in Japanese raw silks. The 
consumer insists upon getting original chop, the importer 
insists upon using his own brand. Which of them is right? 

The question lies at the producer's door, for he is the 
only one responsible for the trouble. 

Supposing we are placed in the position of an honest im- 
porting house whose rule is to guarantee the inspection of 
its silks. With the conditions existing now in Japan, there 
are hardly ten chops that are given an invariable classifica- 
tion in New York. A manufacturer will call a chop Extra, 
another Extra to Best No. 1 and the next man Best No. 1 
only. The importer takes note of every manufacturer's 
view of his inspection and starts writing down the names of 



Japan 12:1 

chops with their different classification, but when such chops 
are coming from Japan sometimes as Extra, sometimes as 
Best No. 1, it becomes so compHcated that the importer 
gives up the game altogether, and rather than have more 
trouble simply accepts the shipper's own classification or 
establishes a system of private chops. Being given a 
number of qualities, samples are made up at the beginning 
of the season showing what the quahties are going to be 
all the year round regardless of seasons. A chop is chosen 
to cover each quality, whether a lion or an elephant is of 
no interest as long as the importer knows that under his 
private chop of Extra he shall always get an Extra silk. 

All silks which are not Sinshius are wrongly called in 
New York either Kansai or hard natures. It would be bet- 
ter to sell silk according to the grading of the Silk Asso- 
ciation of America, simply mentioning on the contract of 
sale whether the silk is of hard or soft nature because Sin- 
shiu is not the only district where soft nature is to be found. 
At the same time there are some hard natured silks in Sin- 
shiu. In fact, what most of the manufacturers understand 
by hard nature is a silk similar to that spun in the Koshu 
district. 

Now using a flag or a turtle to represent each grade is 
of little interest as long as the silk is always kept under the 
same standard. The work of the importer would be to take 
care that a grade is fit for each one of his clients in order 
to be able to provide them regularly with the same quality. 
He would gain steady customers for his private chops. 

VIII, 
Is the Standardization of Japan Raw Silk Possible? 

At the present time, no recognized classification of Japan 
filatures exists. 

Several times, under the leadership of the Silk Asso- 
ciation, leading manufacturers have gotten together, and an 
official Mission even went to Japan to tell the reelers all 
the improvements they should make and how wise it would 
be to deal direct with filatures that would maintain a correct 
grading of their silks. Outside of much talking, nothing 
practical has ever been accomplished, and it is the belief 



124 Raw Silk 

of many that the question should be left in the dark. 

In the previous chapter, I mentioned the question of 
private chops. The first step ,to be taken is to eliminate 
all chop tickets and to attach to each skein a little slip 
bearing simply the quahty and size. For instance, Extra 
13/15. No one can make a classification according to chop 
tickets because they are continually changing. Possibly as 
many private chops as originals are in circulation in the 
New York market. Some of them cannot be distinguished 
from the originals. 

The next step is to recognize only one classification, 
while there is supposed to be the Yokohama classification 
and the New York classification, and almost every import- 
ing house has a different idea of what grading should be. 
This one calls this chop an Extra and the other one a 
Double Extra. 

A long experience has showm me that there is just a 
narrow margin between the following grades but that 
margin exists, and I urgently ask that it should be officially 
recognized. 

Special Double Extra or Cracks 

Double Extra A 

Double Extra B 

Best Extra 

Extra 

Best No. 1 to Extra 

Best No. 1 

Number 1 

Number 1-1>< 

I was the first in 1910 to classify Canton silks with 
the favorite chops of each grade. This grading has been 
generally taken up. 

The Silk Association of America should appoint, every 
year, a number of experts, who would select in October 
a few filatures, or chops, if such are still in existence, as 
representing the quality of such a grade. The grading 
could be based on the percentage system of inspection if 
desired. 

All names of districts, such as Kansai, Sinshiu, etc., ought 
to be eliminated, because they mean nothing, but the words 



Japan 135 

''hard nature" could be mentioned in contracts when such 
is the case according to the buyers' requirements. 

Should any disagreement occur between the buyer and 
the seller, the case should be referred to the Silk Associa- 
tion, and one of the experts would be called upon to com- 
pare the samples w4th the standard quality. 

A manufacturer knowing which grade fills exactly his 
requirements, would try to buy as much as possible from 
the dealer who can furnish it. 

It is probable that the Silk Association would not have 
to decide very often upon diversity of opinion concerning 
a quality of silk, because manufacturers are generally satis- 
fied in their dealings with importers and most especially 
those who own inspection departments. Nevertheless such 
cases may happen, and it is a pity to think that there is 
practically no standard — no official grading — by which a 
quahty may be recognized. All other textiles of the world 
have their standards. Silk stands alone as a pure gamble 
w^ith which one has to take his chance. 

IX. 

How to Improve Japanese Raw Silks 

Silks coming from Japan to this country may be divided 
into three classes, that is, silks for organzine, silks for tram 
and silks for single weaving. 

Organzines are Double Extra, Extras and Best No. 1. 
All of them make the warp of broad and narrow fabrics. 
Trams from No. 1 and below make good to ordinary filling. 
While the distinction is not noticeable in organzine, two 
distinctions are made in the tram stock, viz.: silks of hard 
or soft natures. Hard nature silks are called here Kansai, 
that is, more or less, all districts except Sinshiu, which is 
supposed to produce silks of poor elasticity and rather hairy. 
Mino and part of Bushiu ought to be included w^th Sinshius 
as soft-natured silks. There are, however, many other dis- 
tricts where hard and soft-natured silks are found simul- 
taneously, and it is more a question of quality of cocoons 
than a question of district. 







o 



138 Raw Silk 

It has been asked many times if the best grades of 
Extra Japan could ever replace Italian silks in the large field 
open to them and almost exclusively as silks for raw 
weaving. 

A silk for weaving in the raw calls for: 

Perfect winding and even color. 

Regularity of size, variation three to four deniers. 

Much strength and elasticity in a round, nervy thread, 
and a very long crossing. Only a few Japanese establish- 
ments can fill the above requirement, but a great improve- 
ment is shown daily in both white and yellow silks by 
leading filatures. 

At all events, supposing the Japan Extras are much 
cheaper than Italians, and a manufacturer starts using Jap- 
ans for raw weaving. He may do so for a while and be suc- 
cessful with a couple of lots but then, all of a sudden he will 
not be able to get the silk because the production of such 
Extras is small, or is sold otherwise, or has declined in qual- 
ity; while on the other hand, he can provide himself all he 
wants in an invariable grade from Europe. Of course, that 
costs him more, but he is sure of what he is getting and in 
a steady way. 

In order to have some chances of competition, the Extra 
filatures of Japan must first reach the standard of Kawano 
and Sanin, buying the best cocoons obtainable and employ 
only first-class reeling girls under strict supervision, and 
try to obtain perfect regularity in the size. When manufac- 
turers find that they can buy in Japan all they want for 
single w^eaving, Italians will have little chance. Japa- 
nese reelers must understand that it is in the Extra grades 
that their successful expansion lies. 

The faults usually found in Japan Extras are: irregularity 
of size, unevenness, flat threads and cork screws. There is 
always a small amount of fine ends. The remedies are: 
slower reeling, long twisting evenly maintained on the tavel- 
ette, perfect choice of cocoons, selected for the whole pro- 
duction at the beginning of the spring and autumn crops. 

Below the Extras, we have the Best No. 1, which are good 
winders. These silks, sometimes spun from very best co- 
coons, show the worst defects, as streakiness, poor color, 



Japan 129 

many fine and coarse ends, dirtiness and the most awful ir- 
regularities in the size. The reeling is always too speedy, 
and also, even in the best filatures, many reeling girls are 
quite inexperienced; add to this the lack of supervision, and 
you have silks of undoubted good winding showing varia- 
tions in the size of six or seven deniers. 

Formerly the Yokohama Best No. 1 was not supposed to 
be sufficient for organzine, but since a couple of years some 
chops have been accepted by the throwsters as good for 
such employ. However, it is when we come to No. 1 and 
below, that we find the greatest variations in the quality. 

There is absolutely no established standard for every fila- 
ture, and it is impossible at present to obtain three deliveries 
of one and same quality out of any chop of No. 1 Kansa/i. 
Now this is the worst defect of Japan raw silks. No re- 
liability in the quality is what will always make the Ameri- 
can buyer hesitate to pay the full price, or the price asked 
by the reeler for the real value of his silk. The buyer feels 
that he is taking a chance, even when accepting a well- 
known chop, because he has been caught too often through 
poor deliveries. When every reeler in Japan guarantees the 
year's production equal to two standards (say summer reel 
and autumn reel) every season, he will not only establish for 
his filature a reputation of reliability, but the American 
buyer will be glad to pay a premium in order to secure his 
silks. 

One of our leading manufacturers finds it to his benefit, 
for special purposes, to contract for the whole production of 
certain chops, as the **Gunze," and pay the market price at 
delivery time. Evidently those filatures reel their best at all 
times, and other filatures would do likewise if offered 
work on the same basis. Unfortunately, most of our manu- 
facturers do not possess the same facilities and must take 
their chances according to business. The amelioration must 
come from Japan, not from America. The latter country, as 
said before, will certainly reward the former as soon as it 
is found that filatures can be trusted. 

Little may be said of the Japanese zaguris or re-reels, 
because hand-reeled silks cannot very well be improved, and 
as far as re-reeling is concerned, the Japanese have attained 



130 Raw Silk 

a high degree of perfection. I would advise that more care 
be given to the selection of skeins according to sizes. 

With the extension of silk reeling in Japan, filatures are 
found everywhere, but the silks most perfectly adapted for 
this market are those of Oshiu for Best Extras, Koshu for 
Extra to Best No. 1, and to a less extent Bushu, Mino 
and Sinshiu, where the cocoons are not so good. This 
is said in a general w^ay, for excellent chops are reeled in 
every district. All filatures ought to be of good color, even 
in size, nervy, and must have a round thread. Perfect wind- 
ing is always required; this is the principal and most im- 
portant condition. Even the lower grades, i. e., below fila- 
ture No. 1, must wind at least 60/70 tavelles; better grades 
must give one hundred tavelles. 

The clever Japanese have obtained good winding out of 
their filatures by re-reeling them. It is a mistake to rely on 
the re-reeling only, because it does not improve on the qual- 
ity. The silk being re-reeled at full speed, the fine ends are 
evidently broken and retied, and while it may look well on 
paper to see that the silk wnnds one hundred tavelles, once 
viewed closely, it is found that the thread shows great ir- 
regularity. The improvement must be accomplished while 
the first reeling is done. 

Double or three-thread silk, as quite often happens, should 
be avoided as much as possible. Some Double Extras have 
a tendency to show too many corkscrew fibres. In filature 
Extra, one color only is expected, as near white as possible, 
and not several colors in a lot. The Koshius are rather dark 
in color, some quite brow^n, due to the large percentage of 
mineral coloring in it; it is all right if all of one color, be- 
cause those of too dark a hue can be dyed black. 

The size of filatures 12/14 or 13/15, unless otherwise 
ordered, should average 12.75 to 13.25 and 13.75 to 14.25 
respectively. In Extra filatures, the variation in the size 
must not be over four deniers; in filature Best No. 1 not 
over five; and below- from five to seven. 

Some American manufacturers have started using finer 
sizes as 10/12, 11/13. A considerable quantity of these are 
spun in Japan for Europe. The filatures which will soon 
improve their qualities and obtain very good winding will 



Japan 131 

stand a fair chance of finding a steady call for these sizes 
in competition with Europe. 

The question of improving common Sinshiu filatures must 
be laid aside, because in filatures reeling No. 1 and lower, 
it is only a question of fair production. No matter how 
good cocoons are, no Extra silk can be obtained from poor 
winding and inexperienced help. 

High-class filatures are intended for and must be fit for 
organzine. Double, fine or split-ended silks are death to 
organzine. After perfect winding, good color and perfect 
evenness of the size is a very important matter indeed, and 
many a superior parcel is emphatically condemned if the 
size is irregular. 

European requirements are quite dififerent in this re- 
spect, because in Europe raw silk is but rarely sold to manu- 
facturers direct, generally to dealers and throwsters, who 
have both time and cheap labor at their command, and can 
sort the silk according to the size of each separate skein. 
Cleanliness comes next in importance, because we have no 
cheap labor in this country that would enable us to clean 
silk as they do in Europe. The question of twisting is in- 
variably one of the defects of low grades when the thread 
is flat and uneven. 

Many lots are lousy, i. e., containing minute particles of 
cocoons, which do not take dye and give the woven cloth 
the appearance of being dusted over with a pepper castor; 
this fault is — bar none — the most serious defect of any raw 
silk. 

Streaky silk, as found sometimes in Koshius, is not very 
objectionable if pointed out in the inspector's specification, 
but it becomes very serious if the silk is dyed and woven 
without foreknowledge and thereby produces streaky goods. 

So many lots are sold on this market without adequate or 
sufficient details of their qualifications that it is safe to point 
out that when a lot goes into work and proves to be inferior 
to sellers' representations or classifications, an allowance of 
fifty cents per pound does not compensate the manufacturer 
for his trouble and actual loss. 

In order to improve filatures in Japan, I of¥er the follow- 
ing humble advice. It is the result of the close study of the 



132 Raw Silk 

conditions of silk reeling in Japan, as well as in Europe, in 
connection with the American market. Being given a 
modern filature of a large number of basins, ''a la tavelette," 
I suggest: 

1. That two choices of cocoons are made — once in spring, 
once in autumn. That each choice be divided into two; 
first-class cocoons, second-class cocoons, or four grades 
altogether (instead of buying cocoons from everywhere and 
at any time, as it is currently done.) 

2. The reeling girls to consist of two classes of women — 
those very experienced to reel the best grades of each season, 
and those of little experience to reel second choices — there 
being four grades of silk, one label or chop to be applied 
once and forever to each grade (instead of changing every 
season, as some filatures do). 

3. Two reeling girls, to be provided with an extra girl to 
prepare the cocoons and take general care of the basins while 
the reelers are busy. One forewoman for every ten or 
twelve basins is necessary to see if the silk is properly 
reeled, viz.: if the twisting is long enough, 8/10 inches, if 
the number of cocoons in the basins is always kept to the 
average sizing point, if the basins are kept evenly warm, 
if the silk is properly cleaned and retied when broken, etc. 
In fact, supervision cannot be dispensed with in a filature 
aiming to make a perfect silk. 

4. Restrict the daily work of women to nine hours above 
eighteen years of age, and to eight hours below that age, 
because it is impossible for a tired mind to perform properly 
such a delicate duty as watching the tiny threads. 

5. The speed of the travelers must not be too fast as 
is the case in most Japanese filatures. The desire to make 
more and sell more than they are really able to make prop- 
erly is the cause for an extra speed given to the wheels. This 
is the worst mistake of all, because when the fibres are given 
too much tension they lose their elasticity, and while the 
Koshiu silks, although reeled very fast, are of such a good 
nature that they still retain a good strength, the same cannot 
be said of other silks. Hence the extraordinary irregularity 
of Japanese silks. The writer has seen many a Yajima, a 
Kinposha, a Koseisha, with irregularities of ten deniers 



Japan 133 

in a lot averaging 13/15. These very good silks are often 
barred the name of Extras on account of this defect. 

6. The sizing must be done very carefully, and any skein 
that is not strictly one-quarter denier above or below the 
fixed size must be eliminated from first-class silks. 

7. Re-reeling, although not strictly necessary, does away 
with gums, and is a guaranty of perfect winding. 

8. After four lots of the initial four spring choices have 
been reeled, it is necessary that the filatures maintain the 
same standard throughout the season. This also applies to 
autumn silks. It can be done by comparing right along the 
silk while it is reeled with a sample of the standard lots. 

Thus it will be known that, for instance, the Yiroshiya 
chop reel: 

One "Gold stork" chop Extra spring cocoons, of first 
choice by first-class reeling girls, valued at yen one-thou- 
sand per picul; one '^Silver stork" chop No. 1, spring cocoons 
of second choice by second-class reeling girls, valued at 
yen nine hundred and fifty per picul; one ''Gold fox" chop 
Best 1 autumn cocoons of first choice by first-class reeling 
girls, valued at yen nine hundred and eighty per picul; one 
''Silver fox" chop No. IJ^, autumn cocoons of second 
choice by second-class reeling girls, valued at 3'en nine 
hundred and thirty per picul. Comparing the above fixed 
prices with those of other chops it will be possible once and 
for all to establish a classification of Japanese chops, for a 
classification of the same today is, with the exception of very 
few chops, as false as useless. I do not deny that some very 
well managed filatures have already adopted some of the 
above suggestions, although not all of them; neither is this 
article sufficient to treat the question completely and with- 
out reserve. In the raw silk business much can be said in 
word or in writing which cannot be practically accomp- 
lished. 

There are also the difficulties arising from the business 
itself, as, for instance, the mistake made by the American 
manufacturer of purchasing in speculation, without knowing 
exactly what he is going to get against a certain grade, vary- 
ing widely in the mind of the silk merchant. Another mis- 
take is to try to buy silk at a price he knows very well is 



134 Raw Silk 

much too low to obtain the real quality. These and many 
other erratic dispositions of the buyers have disconcerted 
the Japanese reelers more than once, and are the direct rea- 
son for their having tried to replace quality by quantity. 
However, our mills are the first to suffer through that state 
of affairs, and now beg the reelers to establish a standard 
of perfection not yet obtained in Japan, Because the Japa- 
nese are courteous, as much as winners in many games, 
including business, they w^ill no doubt astonish us with 
their perfect raw silks before long. 

The preceding w^as printed in a number of "SILK" in 
1910, and circulated in Japan through the press of that 
country; the following completes the subject. 

It is gratifying to see the Japanese reelers doing their 
utmost to improve on the quality of their silks. Indeed, 
since '*SILK" took up the question of improving the fila- 
tures in Japan, two years ago, there is a marked improve- 
ment in the thread and the classification of the raw. 

The time is not very far off when Grand Extras 13/15 will 
be spun in quantity sufficient to be currently reliable for 
single w^eaving. Now a fair quantity of Extras is spun in 
coarse sizes, viz.: 16/18 to 28/30, thus entering into open 
competition wath Italian yellow and white silks. 

It is true that in the matter of high-class silks, such as 
Grand Extra, Piedmont, Friouls and Cevennes are still in 
the lead; but it is only a question of time when such high 
qualities will be dispensed with, and some Japans giving 
almost the same results will be used instead at much lower 
price. In the fine sizes such as 10/12, 11/13 and 12/14 
deniers and finer, a fair quantity is already exported to 
America. Should this country take up largely the manu- 
facture of goods requiring those sizes, Japan can provide 
all that is wanted. 

Cheaper Raw Materials Demanded 

Thus it seems to me that the further we go the more we 
see the consumption of Japan silks increasing while Italians 
are losing ground every day. As aforesaid the first reason 
is that the quality of Japans is improving, and some manu- 



Japan 135 

facturers who used to buy Italians are now buying Japans; 
the second and main reason is that they are cheaper. 

With the fierce competition of the near-silk, mixed silk 
and cotton manufacturers and the tendency in this country 
to manufacture low-priced goods for a consumer unwilling 
to pay the value of silk, manufacturers have now to figure 
on low-priced raws, and, of course, Italians cannot compete 
in that line. 

Outside of Chinas and Cantons, which are specialties, 
Japan raw^s are now the New York staple article; and a 
Japanese crop of 300,000 bales w^ll be just enough for the 
continuously increasing consumption. 



CHAPTER III 

China 

I. 

The Shanghai Market 

THE Pacific steamers do not come in sight of Shang- 
hai, but anchor at Woo Sung, ten miles below, at the 
mouth of the Blue River. Shanghai is reached either b}^ 
steam launch or via the railway. 

Steaming up the Houang Poo River, we pass the ex- 
tensive docks and some filatures, but it is only when the 
city appears, with its cosmopolitan activity, its fine for- 
eign buildings, that we feel we are indeed in a civilized 
town, representing fairly well a diminutive New York, 
contrasting in its splendor with the poor, dull native 
surrounding villages, purely Chinese. We may compare 
Shanghai to New York, not only on account of the great 
business activity shown in every line of import and ex- 
port, but also because the foreign population is so very 
cosmopolitan. There, out of 10,000 white people, we see 
representatives of all nations on the face of the earth. 
Add to this the luxuries of the West, magnified by more 
freedom, and the large banks, offices, clubs, newspapers, 
theatres, and you have a delightful modern city. 

To describe the variety and the enormous trade of 
Shanghai would require volumes, but the most important 
is the raw silk business. 

In Shanghai we find a great number of different silks 
placed on the market, silks differing not only in quality 
and sizes, but al^o in appearance, color and packing. 
Silks from different provinces, from Nanking, Hanchow, 
Chefoo, etc., are marketed in Shanghai. Formerly, fifty 
years ago, raw silks were brought from the interior in 
irregular bunches or hanks (grappes), named according to 

137 



138 Raw Silk 

the district in which they were spun. Today some grades 
are still sold the same way, but they are relatively in small 
quantities, in comparison to silks spun expressly for ex- 
port purposes. 

The silks called steam filatures are those reeled accord- 
ing to foreign fashion, using the latest improvements, in 
several cases under the supervision of foreigners, like the 
''Soy Sun" and "E. Wo." Indeed, so-called steam filatures 
Extra are superior to the best Japans. 

The first filatures in the European plan were introduced 
in China sometime around 1880, and the new style was 
quickly taken up by Chinese capitalists. At present some 
steam filatures may be compared with the best Europeans 
for perfection of machinery and spinning improvements. 
Nothing can be said against cleanliness and supervision, 
because the best steam filatures employ or have employed 
foreign superintendents. The quality of these filatures com- 
pares very well with the Japan silks of the Oshiu provinces. 
The fibre has more tenacity, but less elasticity, because it 
contains more mineral substance. The color is of brighter 
white than Japans. It has been found, however, that 
Chinese silks of medium quality lose more than Japans 
in the boil-off; consequently, on account of this defect 
preference is given to Japans on this market, unless Chinese 
are offered at a cheaper price. The real market for 
Chinese silks in general is in Lyons, where every kind of 
raw enters into fabrics, some too expensive to use in our 
silk mills, and some low^er qualities, the winding of which 
is very poor. Tulle manufacturers in Tarare (France) use 
Chinas Extra in a size as fine as 9/11. 

The next silks of importance are tsatlees, viz.: 

Ordinary reel. 

Cross reels (Grant sA^stem). 

Improved reels or Shanghai re-reels. 

Tsatlees are simply hand-reeled silks, packed by differ- 
ent associations. The first-named rarely come on this mar- 
ket, because of their poor winding; the second are wound 
again into cross-reels expressly for export, and the Shang- 
hai re-reels being further improved into perfect winders. 



China 139 

large quantities of them are taken up by the sewing 
silk and the wash fabrics trade. 

The improved tsatlees are sized regularly enough around 
18/20, but the others are coarser. The tsatlees have an ex- 
ceptionally brilliant white color. They are packed in books 
like steam filatures. 

Concerning other kinds: The Hangchows are poorer 
grades than tsatlees, bad, to very bad nature, sold in books. 
The skeins are of medium size, 40/60 deniers in large 
hanks, weighing three pounds. 

Hanchow, Shinyang, are made up in skeins of heavy sizes, 
from 50/200 deniers. The above are not packed in books, 
while the Woosies, although of about the same nature and 
reeling, are made up that way. The color is rather whitish- 
gray. That kind of silk, once cross-reeled, would have a 
good chance to compete with tussahs when they are scarce 
or held at extravagant prices. 

The Heineens hand filatures are sold either ordinary reel, 
cross-reeled or in books. 

Green and white Kahings, yellow and white Meeyans are 
exported in quantity to Europe, especially to the Swiss 
mills. They are rough, coarse silks in loose skeins. The 
Shantungs and Minchews steam filatures produce silks of 
good quality, spun from yellow cocoons. Some of the 
filatures have been improved by re-reeling under the name 
of "Japari style.'^ However, they are only offered in small 
lots of 13/15 size, therefore, not very interesting for export 
to America unless the regularity is greatly improved. Coarse 
sizes are obtained from primitive country reelers. 

Other raw^s, known as Wooyungs, Wanchews, Wongyis, 
Pachow^s, Szechongs, are all yellow silks of coarse size. 

The Tussahs (chief producing center, Chefoo), are ex- 
ported to New York in large quantities. 

The call for mixed goods of silk and tussah, cotton and 
tussah, and other combinations, and the taking up of such 
fabrication by many manufacturers, has caused quite a 
vogue for the brown thread. 

The Tussahs are spun from wild cocoons found on the 
oak, plum, and trees other than the mulberry. The cocoons 
are large and gummy. The Chinese have a peculiar way 



140 Raw Silk 

of getting rid of such gums by allowing the cocoons to 
soak in manure ; hence the sui generis smell of tussah silks. 
But a more unpleasant experience awaits the tussah waste 
inspector when he has to taste with his own palate whether 
the waste is overcharged with salt or not! 

Now there are filatures turning out silks perfectly clean 
and regular, considering the difficulty of spinning. They 
are reeled, four, eight and sixteen cocoons. The best 
grades of tussahs shipped to America average thirty-five 
deniers. 

Apart from the tussah filatures, numbering nearly one 
hundred, there are also tussah natives and tussah w^ater- 
reels. Those spin silks from fifty to three hundred deniers, 
the former in ordinary skeins, the later in skeins three 
times larger. They are also employed in America for 
the manufacture of rough fabrics, in concurrence with 
doppionis, but before they can be introduced in the warp 
they must be re-reeled. That is why these grades reach 
this market via Europe, where they are worked cheaper, 
ready for use, either in the skeins or thrown. The low 
grades of tussah filatures can also be used here if properly 
re-reeled. 

All Shanghai silks are sold according to choice and chop, 
in bales of about one picul. The payment is made in taels. 

The merchants or their agents call personally on silk buy- 
ers and exporters. There is a Chinese guild (not silk ex- 
change) which regulates the quotations according to de- 
mand, production and fluctuations of the silver exchange, 
which is of great importance in China, where the mone- 
tary system is on the silver basis. 

On account of the diversity of silks to be found in Shang- 
hai, not speaking of the silk wastes, which inspection is 
very complicated, it is probably the most interesting mar- 
ket in the world for the raw silk student and inspector. 
At least, he may choose to be in a real western city dur- 
ing business hours, and at other times in the heart of 
Chinese life a few minutes from his office, beyond Bubbling 
Well Road. 



China 141 

II. 

Raw Silk in the Canton Province 

As done previously for Japan filatures, I shall relate a 
trip to Macao in the province of Canton, which will givt 
the reader a good idea of the raw silk business in South 
China. 

Of all South China, the only filature that does not send its 
silks to Canton for inspection is the filature at Macao. The 
foreign buyers, as in days of old, have to make the trip 
especially for the purpose, and it gives them the opportunity 
of a very interesting journey. 

Leaving Canton at seven A. M. on the little British 
steamer *'Leun Shan," we come down the River Si Kiang 
via Whanpoa, and leaving Hong Kong at our left, we reach 
the open sea, navigating among a number of diminutive 
islands, the refuge of poor fishermen, whose numerous 
junks are all about. At noon we perceive the old lighthouse 
Guia, the first one built by Europeans on Chinese soil. Be- 
low, the semi-circular Macao bay appears, looking like a 
diminutive Monaco. 

The Portuguese city is built on the flank of a mountain, 
on which summit the old forts are seen. The hotels and 
dwelling houses facing the sea, with their broad fronts 
and verandas painted in light rose, yellow or blue, present 
a charming view to the eye. We want to disembark at 
once, but the tide is always low on the Portuguese shore, 
and our steamer, turning the Boa Vista point brings us in 
full view of the old Chinese port, situated exactly on the 
other side of the mountain, showing a rare contrast of dirt 
against the pure beauty of the Portuguese coast. 

We land at two P. M. and take lodging at an antiquated 
Chinese hostelry. Rickshaws, similar to those used at 
Shanghai or Yokohama, carry us along the narrow, filthy 
streets of the Chinese town. We pass the beautiful resi- 
dences of the rich Cantonese merchants, who make of Ma- 
.cao a place of leisure. We see the numberless gambhng 
houses which cause the city to be called the Chinese 
Monte Carlo, and the handsome revenue the Portuguese 



142 Raw Silk 

Government gets from each "fantan" is well appreciated 
in Lisbon. 

Leaving the large and crowded Chinese city, an extraor- 
dinary sight awaits us on the other side — that of a little 
provincial town transplanted from Europe to China — old 
houses of the last two centuries, and except a few officials 
and the soldiers, a funny mixture of Portuguese and Chi- 
nese people, half castes of many generations old. Large 
and well-kept roads, public gardens, many Catholic churches 
and convents in the style of southern Europe; now and 
then Portuguese soldiers in gallant service uniforms of 
khaki. We pass the giant door of the ancient Cathedral 
San Paulo, half burned down by the mob years ago; the 
beautiful, silent and evergreen garden where Camoens wrote 
the Lusiades; the remains of the extensive prison house, 
where slaves were kept and exchanged when Portugal was 
Queen of the sea, and Macao called, by the great navi- 
gators, ''Pearl of the Orient." 

The Macao filature is not a first-class one. The quality 
of silk made there is but an Extra A. The building is 
entirely of w^ood. Judging from the appearance of its walls, 
it must be a hundred years old. The steam engine is 
near the entrance, and quite a quantity of steam waste is 
drying nearby. Some women are working the waste out- 
side, opening same with large wooden hammers. 

Let us observe, in passing, how waste silk is worked up 
in South China. The frisons obtained from the basins are 
in great quantity and very silky on account of the nature of . 
the cocoon itself. These frisons, once dried, are distributed 
in small bundles to a number of women usually working 
at home. Each woman, laying the frisons in front of her, 
beats them hard with the hammer, so that the fibres, be- 
coming soft, lose part of their gums. A long beating opens 
them perfectly. The woman, using her fingers, cleans and 
loosens the silk, making it perfectly neat. It looks then 
more like cotton and is very white. When she brings back 
the bundle a certain percentage of weight is allowed on 
each bundle for loss in dust and chrysalides. The loss is 
never of as much consequence as with Shanghai or Yoko- 
hama wastes. 



China 143 

This quality is called by inspectors steam filature waste, 
opened, but an equal quantity is also sold unopened, with a 
difference of eight to ten Mexican dollars per pound. 
Nearly all of the waste business is in the hands of large 
manipulators, who buy the silk directly from the filatures 
and mix it themselves for their foreign customers. 

Perhaps Canton is the only place in the world where no 
inspection is passed on silk waste by the foreign merchant 
as to quality, he being satisfied to see grosso modo if no 
straw or other stuff is shipped instead of silk. 

In every case, the dealer guarantees not only the weight, 
but the quality, and is held responsible for any claim re- 
ceived within three months from the European or Ameri- 
can buyer. In fact, the waste is classified like raw silk, 
and there is a difference of a few dollars per picul between 
one name and another on the same class of goods. 

Coming back to our subject, there were about two hun- 
dred basins in the filature. The reeling system used was 
"Chambon two and four ends." Water was kept boiling 
in the basins, and the place, being unventilated and quite 
dark, it was not easy to distinguish what was going on in 
that heavy mist. 

Notwithstanding the heat and absence of fresh air, the 
reeling girls were neatly dressed, using with dexterous 
hands a couple of chopsticks to pick up cocoons, follow the 
end and do other sundry work around the basins. The 
travelers were turning no more than 80/90 revolutions a 
minute. The cocoons were of the small, hairy kind, with- 
out any consistence whatever. 

Let us say here that the reason of the difference in the 
quality of Cantonese cocoons is entirely on account of the 
weather. The mulberry trees are especially strong in 
South China and cannot be affected by any variation of 
soil or weather, but the worms have a tendency to be lazy 
and sick during the hot days. The three first crops occur 
during the rainy and damp season of March to June, and 
the hatching houses cannot be protected from dampness. 
July to September are warm and dry, and the next crops 
are considerably better, the cocoons being less hairy and 
more consistent; but the best cocoons are hatched during 



144 Raw Silk 

the temperate weather of October and November, when the 
fifth and sixth crops are obtained. Sixth-crops are nearly 
equal to the northern cocoons, and would give the best 
results if they w^ere reeled better. 

The silk, being already dusty, and, further, reeled in 
dampness, cannot fail to show hard gums, especially on the 
spots touching the travelers. The cross reeling has been 
introduced only in one or two filatures and in the re-reeling 
establishments. To get rid of the gums, the great ob- 
jection to Canton silks in America, every pound of silk 
ought to be re-reeled, and, if possible, cross-reeled, as 
pointed out by the Silk Association of America. 

The Chinese are so slow that it takes years to induce 
them to make a change in their modus operandi as long as 
there is money to be made wuth an old system. It will 
probably be fifty years before they introduce the direct 
cross-reeling in their filatures. However, for a couple of 
years such reelers as Wing Cheong Sing, Tsung, Wai 
Hang, etc., have been reeling from selected cocoons with 
experienced help only; the price paid for their silks is over 
five per cent higher than for regular XXA crack chops. 
All filatures reeling for Americans have also adopted a 
smaller skein and gums are less hard than formerly. 

After the reeling, the hanks were examined, made into 
skeins, sized and, according to the choice of cocoons, labeled 
first or second choice, then packed into bales of ten books 
each. 

From Macao the silk is shipped on one of the steamers 
going to Hong Kong direct. When the inspection is made 
in Canton, the silk is conveyed from the country on junks, 
via the rivers and creeks. Those junks carry on board a 
couple of loaded guns and soldiers, armed to the teeth, in 
fear of the numerous pirates infesting Kwang Toung, who 
would find an easy market for the precious thread. 

Work begins at five A. M. and continues during twelve 
hours. Each girl receives her bow4 of food every three 
hours, and gets anywhere from ten to fifteen cents a day. 

In Macao the Chinese are well used to strangers. We 
remember once in Lak Low, a small place quite far from 
Canton, while we w^ere looking at the work of the reeling 



China 145 

girls not an eye did we perceive raised to look at us; but 
once we got out of the place, turning suddenly, we saw a 
thousand eyes piercing every crevice of the old building, and 
we felt that the whole working crowd must have jumped 
from their seats and crushed themselves against the walls 
to peep with curiosity at the foreign devils. 

In the Kwang Toung province there are about five hun- 
dred filatures of twenty-five to three hundred basins, in- 
cluding re-reeling establishments and assorting houses, 
where the hand-reeled silks are packed under the name of 
"Markets." Some filatures reel only for America (four 
corners) in the size of 14/16. Those reeling for Europe 
(six corners) reel from 11/13 to 30/40. Such sizes as 
18/20, 20/22 and 22/26 have been introduced to America 
with good success. Occasionally a lot of 10/12 is put 
on the market in Canton. That size has even been obtained 
in ''Markets." The latter sell under a two, three or four 
kind standard, several sizes being sold together. The field 
for Canton silks is becoming larger in America on account 
of the tendency to use that thread to make wash fabrics 
of mixed cotton and silk, otherwise it is only used for 
crepe and velvet. 

The proprietor of the Macao filature invited us to a cup 
of tea in his ofiice, which was furnished in a rather rudi- 
mentary way, consisting of a pile of old books, a count- 
ing board and a few chairs. 

In the evening he took us to his private house, a real 
palace, where pavilions of gold and lacquer were distributed 
among the flowers of a marvellous garden. The dinner 
was served in a room of rose and white marble, decorated 
with odorous tea flowers dyed in different colors. As the 
fifty-ninth course was placed on the table the sing-song 
girls were yelling to a gong accompaniment, and our host 
had forgotten us in the opium fumes; we left the place in 
the early morning. 

Out in the night we had at our right the European quar- 
ter, small, dark, and silent and at our left the contrast of 
the Chinese city, with its enormous activity, thousands of 
lights moving in the darkness, the distant music of the 
flowery restaurants, the immense red signs of the gambling 



146 Raw Silk ■ 

houses — all the strange, emotional noises of an unknown 
world. 

Remarks on Canton Silks 

Perhaps no mulberry tree in the world is subject to as 
many calamities as the Cantonese. It is very small and 
grows everywhere, among rice fields, in marshy lands and 
along dirty creeks. Floods, typhoons, w^inds may come 
or the soil be washed away; if any diminutive piece of land 
is left over, the mulberry tree is there pointing its green 
leaves to be picked. The lazy Chinaman just comes to 
collect the food for his worms at the proper time. He 
could grow twice as many mulberry trees; he could im- 
prove them by working on a good piece of land. No! 
He is too slow for that. The tree has to live by itself; it 
will grow or be washed away. Nobody cares. 

The Cantonese silkworm_s are like rich mandarins, fat and 
lazy. No change of climate affects them. Overfeeding or 
dysentery are their common enemies. They start making 
their cocoons in the same lazy way, and before they are 
settled to neat work they spit any amount of thread which 
has no consistence. That is w^hy the Canton cocoons are 
so weak and produce so much waste. 

It is certain that w^ould the Cantonese pay more atten- 
tion to the growing of mulberry trees and hatching of 
eggs, they could not only improve on their cocoons, but 
double the production, w^hich has been stationary for a 
number of years, with a small overproduction some seasons 
and a large curtailage the next ones. This is when flood 
after flood has washed away the trees and turned them 
absolutely roots on top. 

A Cantonese filature is a place of antiquity and dirt. 
Some of them use ,the ''tavelette" system, but most of the 
filatures use the ''Chambon 2/4 bouts," because the hand 
filatures were improved by Frenchmen. The reeling girls 
are very clever. They do not throw the end with their 
fingers, but with chopsticks similar to the ones used in 
China to take food, and the way they twist, clean and fol- 
low up ithe thread with these tiny pieces of wood is won- 
derful. The water is usually kept boiling in the basins. 



China 147 

Comparing the Cantonese with the Japanese filatures we 
see that the latter are clean, neat, ventilated, and in most 
cases lighted with electricity. (In the filature Kusanagisha 
at Kofu, Kai, an electric lamp is hanging right over every 
basin.) A Cantonese filature looks as if it has been in 
existence for centuries, the only thing recalling present 
times is the steam engine. Dirty walls, dark rooms, s,tingy 
oil lamps hanging from the ceiling, — it is a sight that re- 
calls at once the conservative people of South China. How 
different are the Chinese of the north. They have been 
quick in placing their interests in foreign hands. Their now 
successful filatures on the European plan are reeling the 
finest brands that can be produced in the Far East. But 
nobody can induce the Can,tonese to change his slow way. 
He does not care for wealth. He wants to manage his 
^own business. He thinks that he will always be able to 
resell his products to his friends, if not to others. 

The Cantonese raw silk is dusty and weak, the color is 
whitish to cream, the thread is generally very spongy and 
soft, so that it dyes perfectly. In Europe it is used cur- 
rently in raw weaving, but American manufacturers cannot 
afford ,to work it that way. 

In Europe, where labor is cheap, they use all Canton 
silks with profit, especially the kind called **paquetailles," 
or hand-made silks. They are usually sold under a three- 
sized standard 11/13, 13/15, 14/18. Some filatures are even 
able to make a four-sized standard, including 10/12, which is 
very remarkable for such rough silks. Where European 
throwsters find their profit is in making a further choice 
of these kinds, enabling them to benefit by a larger num- 
ber of fine-sized skeins than they are supposed to get. 

The Canton silks cannot be compared with any others. 
They are altogether inferior to China steam filatures and 
Japans in every way, not only because the cocoons are poor, 
but because no trouble is taken by the reelers to improve on 
their chops. However, the filatures are very faithful to their 
standard, and the buying is done, excepting when purchasing 
a new chop, without seeing the sample; simply on the chop's 
reputation, and whether the market goes up or down, the 
silk inspector is always certain to receive the silk he has 



148 Raw Silk 

bought; that is as it ought to be. If to the mind of the 
Chinaman his silk is not up to the grade, then only will he 
submit a sample for the inspector's approval. Such faith 
in the seller renders business easier and John Chinaman has 
the reputation of an honest tradesman in all the Far East- 
ern ports. 

New Style Cantons 

In the first (1913) edition of this book, page 125, I 
pointed out the great improvement that might be brought 
to Canton filatures by building re-reeling establishments, 
in view of increasing trade with America. This idea was 
taken up during 1918, probabl}^ under the leadership of a 
large Japanese organization, and the first lot of Canton 
re-reels or new style w^as received in the New York mar- 
ket in the Autumn of 1919. 

After the silk has been reeled in the regular w^ay, it is ' 
taken to a re-reeling establishment where it passes through 
the Grant cross-reeling process at a very high speed. Gums 
and weak spots are eliminated. American standard skeins 
are packed up in books and are worth nearly a dollar a 
pound more than old style skeins. 

While Canton silk has a nature all its own, with careful 
reeling and cleaning, and the size being changed from 
14/16 to 13/15, it bids fair to compete with low-grade 
Japans in piece dyed goods. Fifty per cent, of the crop 
is being re-reeled for American consumption. 

III. 

Sericulture in Indo-China 

Sericulture is much in favor in the French Provinces 
of Indo-China, w^hich include Tonkin, Annam, Laos and 
Cambodge. The mulberry tree is cultivated there from the 
sea to the mountains of the central section. The soil is 
so rich that usually the tree attains a height of six feet 
but a few months after the seeds have been put into the 
ground. The leaves can be picked at once and the natives 
are able to collect them during the period between April 
and November for the reason that when a tree has been 



China 149 

stripped entirely bare of its leaves they grow again in a 
few days. It is an easy task to hatch the worms at all times 
and sometimes one hatching is started while another is in 
action. 

The silkworm races are, of course, polyvoltins, the eggs 
hatching from eight to ten days after the laying down. 
The cocoons are never suffocated as often happens in the 
modern filatures of Europe and Japan, but reeled fresh. 
The hatchers sell some of the cocoons to dealers who resell 
them to filatures; while other lots are reeled in the homes 
and in the most rudimentary way. The whole apparatus, 
consists of an earthenware basin containing boiling water 
heated over a fire made of straw, as wood is far too ex- 
pensive to be used for fuel. 

The reeler, kneeling down before the basin, throws into 
the water some twenty to thirty cocoons and beats them 
with a pair of chop sticks until she has separated the waste 
from the cocoons. This ancient and rather stupid way of 
treating the cocoons makes a considerable quantity of 
waste, and the result is that over thirty pounds of cocoons 
are often necessary to reel a single pound of raw silk. 
Furthermore, the reeler does not bother herself about" the 
number of cocoons used in making the thread which is 
invariably irregular in size. The thread is wound on a 
small hexagonal winder without any crossing whatsoever 
and dirt and irregularities and double ends are the rule and 
not the exception. 

Thus, the raw silk produced on these farms by native 
hands cannot be exported, but is consumed by the natives 
themselves and in many cases has to be re-reeled before it is 
used on the looms. The women handle the silk without 
the use of winders, simply reeling the silk on bobbins ac- 
cording to the thickness of the threads, a process to which 
they get accustomed to the extent of unerringly judging 
the threads as they pass through their fingers. With such 
irregular silks the natives, however, managed to weave all 
kinds of goods like taffetas, crepes, brocades and grena- 
dines. 

Such are the primitive ways of reeling found in Indo- 
China and in general in all of the provinces of China proper, 



150 Raw Silk 

and especially in those distant from the important centers, 
such as Shanghai and Canton, where the operators of the 
filatures have adopted foreign methods and improved ma- 
chinery. 

In 1904, a silk inspector from Canton, Mr. Emery, ob- 
tained a subsidy from the French Government, together 
with a tax exemption on all the mulberry trees grown upon 
Indo-Chinese soil. 

Notices were distributed, printed in every language spoken 
in Tonkin, Laos and Annam, giving precise information 
to the farmers as to the growing of mulberry trees and 
the hatching of cocoons. To start the enterprise, several 
millions of silkw^orm eggs were distributed free to all who 
could be induced to engage in the work. 

The cost of a reeling basin was two dollars, but all 
machinery was imported from Italy and France. 

There are now several filatures, altogether one thousand 
basins, in Nam-Ding and Tai-Bing, producing a silk which is 
slightly superior to the Canton silk as to its nature, but 
greatly superior as to workmanship. It is appreciated on 
the Lyons market, the season's output being practically 
sold in advance. 

This success was achieved without a large capital, but 
like every French enterprise, by constant plugging, small 
profits to begin with and plenty of governmental help. 

It may serve as an illustration to American capital that 
silk reeling may be taken up and worked out to be a 
profitable enterprise as long as labor is cheap, plentiful and 
climatic conditions are right. 



Part IV 

THE NEW YORK MARKET 



Chapter I. 

Improving the Raw Silk Business in 
New York 

OUTSIDE of the season of great prosperity, which 
some say occurs every seven years, if you ask anyone 
connected with the silk trade, "How is business?" you will 
probably receive the same monotonous reply: "It is bad and 
getting worse." 

There used to be a time, say twenty years ago, when 
silk men were pretty well satisfied with the business. Things 
were going on smoothly, profits were plentiful. Nowadays 
it seems that everybody, from the raw silk dealer ,to the 
weaver, is only too glad to make a living and the profits 
made out of the silk business do not justify the enormous 
capital involved in it. 

There are many reasons why the silk business has a hard 
struggle for life. Of course, competition is keener than 
formerly; with the continually increasing number of looms 
in the mills, it takes a very prosperous year and fashion 
favoring silk to keep them all busy, and ,the competition 
is not restricted to silk manufacturers, for we have the 
mercerized cottons and artificial silks stronger than ever. 
The first to suffer by this state of affairs are naturally the 
raw silk importers. 

This chapter is devoted to the relations between raw silk 
importers and manufacturers and offers some suggestions. 

It is my opinion that raw silk business ought to be done 
on the letter of credit basis exclusively. Every firm on 
the New York market dealing in raw silk ought to have a 
branch in the different countries from which silk is im- 
ported: Italy, France, Japan, China. Instead of doing busi- 
ness over the counter with speculation as a basis and tak- 
ing chances on the soundness of many buyers, the question 
of credits should be entirely left to the banks and unreliable 

153 



154 Raw Silk 

customers would soon be eliminated from the face of the 
market. 

There are, of course, very small buyers using now and 
then a few bales of silk. Such people would be taken care 
of by the thrown silk dealers as long as they could not give 
an order for at least five bales of raw. At the present time, 
I admit, it is almost impossible for raw silk importers to 
confine their business solely to the letter of credit basis. 
At least if there are a few^ firms doing so they are the ex- 
ception and their success depends upon their organization 
on the primary markets. 

The reason manufacturers buy on New York terms may 
be that they can discount at a high rate of interest, that they 
can contract very far ahead, that they are assured the re- 
placement from stock of lots that are not found satisfac- 
tory. The first reason does not count because buying on 
letter of credit basis is cheaper than otherwise since the raw 
silk importer mus,t take an extra commission when he sells 
New York terms. Contracting far ahead is a very bad prac- 
tice; it is nothing but speculation in most cases and should 
be allowed only when a manufacturer wants to control a 
certain chop or quality. 

In regard to the third reason, let us say here that two- 
thirds of ,the manufacturers would gladly buy against let- 
ter of credit if they knew that the raw silk dealers had 
the right organization on the other side and those who are 
known to have such organizations are doing a paying busi- 
ness. If the buyers know that they are going to receive 
from the other side exactly the quality they want they 
will certainly buy against letter of credit since it is cheaper 
to do so. 

But w^hy can't all raw^ silk importers confine themselves 
to letter of credit of business and buy directly from the 
producing countries? Because there is practically no under- 
standing betw^een the buyer in Japan (taking Japan as an 
example) and the seller in New York. The New York im- 
porter knows his customers. Among the innumerable 
grades to be found in Japanese silks nowadays he knows 
which quality, which lot, will fit better such and such cus- 
tomers. A certain Best No. 1 w^ill do for Mr. A. and will not 



The New York Market 155 

do for Mr. B. Mr. C. buys a good No. 1 for organzine and 
Mr. D. wants the same to be thrown into tram. The sales- 
man knows what kind of goods his customer is making and 
he sells him ,the raw accordingly. 

Now the buyer in Japan knows nothing about it. He is 
asked by his New York correspondent to buy a Best No. 1 
and he does so according to the old established rules that 
certain chops are recognized as Bes,t No. 1. Wouldn't it 
be better if the inspector in Japan knew the customers as 
well as the salesman in New York so as to ship always the 
quality required and guarantee the quality suitable for the 
use of the buyer? 

Most of the time when an importer buys a lot of raw 
silk from anywhere he does not know what he is going to 
receive while he has to guarantee the quality to his own 
customer. He would know it if there was an understanding 
with the inspector providing that each lot is bought ex- 
pressly for a stated customer, and to be used for a certain 
purpose. 

It seems ,to me the raw silk importers ought to train their 
salesmen with a view of making them silk inspectors. By 
residing a couple of years in Japan or China and a couple 
of years in New York alternately, these men would be bet- 
ter posted and render more service than absolutely unknown 
inspectors from other countries. Here is a new profession 
for young Americans. Why not open a technical school 
similar to the silk institutes of Europe? Raw silk buying 
ought not to be a European specialty. Let Americans buy 
for America. 

I am sure that raw silk importers having in their em- 
ploy silk men of ability, knowing perfectly the requirements 
of all manufacturers, would be better off by sending them to 
Japan rather than by relying upon foreigners, who have ab- 
solutely no idea of our silk market. 

The practice of raw silk inspection is not very difficult, 
and with a couple of years of training anybody can recog- 
nize very well the merits of silk as well as its defects, and 
when former experience is necessary there are yet enough 
inspectors in Japan to help the newcomers. If we refer 
strictly to buying and dealing, the American character and 



156 Raw Silk 

business training is vastly superior to the European. There 
is one thing certain; as soon as the buyer in Japan has 
to ship directly to the manufacturer and for a stated use, 
he will have to be careful, and reports of inspections will 
be made in such a way that the manufacturer will know 
the story of the silk he buys from A to Z. It pains me 
to see some raw silk speculating organizations delivering 
lots of raw silk just as if they were Tiffany diamonds. 
They are all, every bale of them, equally perfect. 

Here you are, Mr. Manufacturer. You may not find it 
exactly what you want. You may discover that it is very 
irregular; well, it is a matter of opinion. Just try another 
lot. This is decidedly not raw silk business. When the 
raw silk importers have their own men in Japan (and, by the 
w^ay, in China, Canton, etc.), buying expressly for American 
requirements, there will be no objections to doing business 
against letter of credit. 

The very small houses, those of poor standing or bad 
reputation will be systematically eliminated by the banks. 
The honest manufacturers will be served better, competition 
will be fairer, everybody buying on the same basis. The 
skill and originality of manufacturers will count first instead 
of the fool competition consisting of trying to sell cheaper 
than their neighbors, and, in order to do so, weaving 
unusable material. The winners will be those who, with 
the same material, costing about the same price, will turn 
out the most beautiful fabrics, the best combinations of the 
silk threads. Silk manufacture ought to be a work of brain 
and art instead of being either a gamble or a puzzle. 

The golden age of the silk business may come back if we 
are willing to establish the whole trade on a sound basis. 
We are now placed in such a position that the base of it is 
speculation from beginning to end. There is no pleasure in 
a work that affords only deception and how could American 
silk goods have any originality when they are made by 
people T^hose main idea is to cut each others' throats! 

I suggest a raw silk business conducted strictly on a 
letter of credit basis. If the letter of credit business is not 
practicable to be enforced as a rule, then terms should 
tend more and more to the cash transaction basis. 



Chapter II. 
Quilling and Coning 

How to establish a Raw Silk Buying Agency in the Far 

East 

A BUSINESS has come into existence during the last 
ten years and is now an important factor in the silk 
industry. This is the quilling and coning of silk by the 
raw silk importers themselves. The business has proved 
profitable to those who have engaged in it, and it seems 
that a bright future is ahead of those with efficient organ- 
izations, especially in the knit goods line. 

Quills 

Manufacturers of piece dyed goods, wash fabrics, insul- 
ated wire, tapestry and all mixed fabrics whether of cotton 
and silk or wool and silk, buy their silk on quills because 
their principal products are cotton or woolen fabrics which 
sell all the year round. When occasionally they make silk 
goods they cannot afford to wait for a raw silk to be thrown 
and so they buy the quills which are used as raw silk in 
stock. Wash fabrics manufacturers prepare their own warps 
of cotton or wool filling with bright silks like Cantons or 
Tsatlees. In domestic shantungs the fillings are made out 
of tussah four or eight cocoons and tussah natives fifty to 
one hundred and fifty deniers. 

Quills are made either of wool, cardboard or paper. The 
wooden ones are returned to the throwsters after ,they have 
been once used. Paper cops are thrown away. The ad- 
vantage of the former is their durability; that of the latter 
is the reduced freight expenses. Wooden quills cost fifty 
per cent, more than the paper. However, the silk either 
quilled on wood or paper is quoted at the same price to the 
buyer. The question of making aluminum cops cutting 

157 



158 Raw Silk 

down the cost of freight and costing no more than wooden 
ones might wxll be considered. 

The quills most commonly used by cotton mills are Can- 
ton single 22/26, Canton double 14/16, tussah eight cocoons 
30-40 deniers, tussah natives 70-80 deniers, two threads, also 
40/60 to 200 deniers, Tsatlee two threads 18-20 deniers and 
Japan No. 1 13/15. The degree of twist varies with the cus- 
tomer. Nine tenths of cotton silk fabrics are w^oven thirty- 
six inches wide, but the quills are sold either boiled-off or 
in ,the gum; the boiled-of¥ thrown silk loses tw^enty to 
twenty-two per cent., but the manufacturer does not get any 
shrinkage in his goods. That is, thirty-six inch fabrics are 
woven thirty-six, while with the ordinary thrown, to obtain 
thirty-six inches it is necessary to weave thirty-nine inches. 
On tussahs there is a difference of about tw^enty-five cents 
per pound between the ordinary and the boil-ofif thrown. 

Cones 

Manufacturers of silk knit goods, hosiery, ,ties, etc., have 
also found it to their advantage to buy thrown silk for 
hosiery, six to ten thread tram on cones of cardboard. 
Nearly all the knitting mills of Pennsylvania have taken up 
silk hosiery and buy a large quantity of tram stock (mostly 
Japan Best No. 1 and No. 1). It may be noted that this 
large consumption of tram stock by the knitting trade has 
been the direct cause of the shortage which occurs at 
certain times. The quantity of low grade raw silks imported 
to America has increased to enormous proportions. 

In order to establish a quilling and coning business, it is 
necessary to have the co-operation of a raw silk importing 
house, a throwster and a dyer. At present the largest firms 
in that business are raw silk importers who own or control 
throwing plants. The establishment of a buying agency in 
the Far East is really the small end o-f it, as it requires 
little capital to engage in such an enterprise and the 
profits are large. Many people think that opening a branch 
in Japan and China involves great expense. On the con- 
trary, a very small capital is needed, provided, of course, 
that the firm or representative in New York has a suffi- 
cient outlet to cover running expenses. A house not in 



Quilling and Coning 159 

position to dispose of one thousand bales of silk a year 
could not possibly maintain an office in Asia, but very few 
firms indeed sell less than that quantity. The cost of es- 
tablishing a branch in Japan is as follows: 

Installing of inspector yen 3,000 

Machinery '' 1,000 

Rent " 5,000 

Salary of Inspector '' 10,000 

Salary of Assistant '' 3,000 

Japanese staff " 1,000 

Office expense " 2,000 

Total yen 25,000 

The second year the expense would be about yen 4,000 
less. The cash needed to open an office in Yokohama would 
be half the above, or about $5,000. 
Profits, 1,000 bales at yen 1,500, yen 1,500,000 at 

2% yen 30,000 

Extra profits in purchasing J^% or " 7,500 

yen 37,500 
Less expenses '* 25,000 

Net profit yen 12,500 

If the New York house, or importer, before making any 
profit on the sales gets a return commission of about $5,000 
for every one thousand bales, the establishment of a direct 
agency in the Far East is well worth considering. As soon 
as ,the importation reaches three thousand bales it becomes 
a good paying proposition even with a reduced commission 
of one per cent, or less. Of course, the above profits are 
taken to be strictly without speculation, as it may happen 
that an element of speculation introduced in the business 
may increase or decrease the profits considerably. 

In China, Shanghai or Canton, expenses run about the 
same. 

It can be seen from the above tha;t a firm doing a 
strictly letter of credit business can well afford to work at 



160 Raw Silk 

a very small commission and still make a handsome profit 
as soon as the importation reaches around five thousand 
bales. 

If the raw silk importer is also a throwster, he must own a 
sufficient number of spindles to be ready at any moment to 
take an order for a current or specialized quality. It is a 
fact that the cotton mills sometimes pay higher prices to the 
man who can accommodate them on the instant, and quill 
dealers are known to have missed business very often 
through their inability to contract for ,the required deliveries. 
It is in the throwing end of the business that capital is 
needed. The following figures show an approximate esti- 
mate of the cost of establishing a plant w^ith a capacity of 
two thousand five hundred pounds of tram stock on quills 
per week, say, in two threads 28/30 deniers: 

Winding and Thro'wing. 

1 Swift per week winds 1.7637 lbs. (including waste). 
2,500 lbs. equals 1.7637 plus 1,400 Swifts (approximately). 
For doubHng and winding 700 spindles. 
1 Spindle (second turn) produces per day 60 grams, say, 

for a 55-hour week: 
Second turn, 3,100 spindles. 
Yz more for First Turn, 4,600 spindles. , 

Quilling. 

1 cop equals 15 grams silk. 

8 cops per day per spindle equals 120 grams by 55 hours pei 
week equals 660 grams or 1,530 quilling spindles. 

Cost (1914). 

Winder with 40 spindles costs $200 (2,100 spindles) . .$10,500 

Throwing spindles, 7,700 at $3.00 23,100 

Quilling spindles, 1,530 at $7.50 11,475 

100 H.-P. gas engine 10,000 

Transmission, shafting 5,000 

Soaking and drying apparatus 1,000 

Building and Sundries, approximating 15,000 

$76,075 



Quilling and Coning 161 

If a number of coning machines is added, the capital in- 
volved would be large. 

While , the establishment of a Chinese or Japanese agency 
does not call for much capital, it must not be forgotten that 
in order to be ready for any call, the firm must carry some 
stock in all kinds of raws besides what is imported against 
contract. The whole thing means at least $200,000 to carry 
on both raw and thrown silks. It would mean much less 
to an importer giving the silk ,to be thrown outside but also 
less profits. 

The combination of profits first on the raw, then on the 
thrown, then on the weight, ought to leave an average of 
five per cent per pound. In some cases it reaches ten per 
cent. On the other hand, competition is already becoming 
very keen as the number of dealers in quills and cones is 
increasing all .the time, but the field still is large for those, 
who, being well started, can follow the requirements of 
fashion, as at present the hosiery manufacturers require 
Japan tram principally and the New England cotton manu- 
facturer requires Japan No. 1 13/15 and 14/16 and Canton 
22/26 double extra B for their mixed fabrics, not men- 
tioning a steady call for tussah and Tsatlee silks. 



Chapter 111. 
The Making of a Raw Silk Salesman 

To sell raw silk is like selling cotton or wool for a born 
salesman because a born salesman will make good in 
any line, being gifted by nature with such essential charac- 
teristics as personality, magnetism and wall powxr. In or- 
der to be entirely successful in selling raw silk he must also 
possess intelligence and a fair knowledge of the subject, 
as to how raw silk is made and generally dealt with in the 
producing countries, and what each grade and size can be 
used for. 

If he has these qualities, a man ought to be able to make 
large sales, provided he has something to sell. Because 
one must remember that if even such a w^ell equipped man 
was trying to sell for a firm that w^as not prepared to meet 
all the requirements of the trade — that is, dealing in all 
the qualities that are in demand and carrying a reasonable 
stock — he would be wasting his ability and achieve no re- 
sults. 

Let us study the possibilities of a salesman from a man- 
ager's point of view, if we were to engage one on the spot. 
We have buying agencies in China and Japan and we need 
two young men to push the business which, for some rea- 
son, has been losing ground lately. 

Several salesmen apply. Those who know nothing of 
raw silk we dismiss with the exception of one who has 
been successful in some other line, and who has impressed 
us with his very fine appearance and an unmistakable air 
. of distinction and confidence. From the others w^ho know 
about raw silk we select a young man who manifested an 
earnest desire of selling more if given a better chance. 
We eliminated many others who had some of the neces- 
sary qualities but not in any marked degree, and they were 
unable to show us either through their conversation or 

162 



The Making of a Raw Silk Salesman 163 

past performances the proof that they would be Hkely to 
make good. 

The two young men are started at a good salary, plus 
a percentage on their respective amount of business, be- 
cause emulation always pays a firm and a man who is in- 
terested in his own profit will work more and better than 
one who is limited by a fixed salary. 

In distributing the customers we have wisely given to 
the salesman of ability (but who does not know raw silk) 
those who are dif^cult, but who rely upon themselves to 
select the silk ,they need. To the salesman who knows the 
possibilities of raw silk we have given the customers that 
have to be coached in their purchases and who need to have 
confidence in the salesman's knowledge before they place 
their orders. 

Being* ourselves sure of the needs of the firm's customers, 
we never forget to direct our two salesmen, posting them 
on what Mr. So-and-So may be interested in, also what 
might be offered at an attractive price. 

The manager of a firm, the one who is the brain and 
buying and selling power, sometimes forgets that he is the 
general and that his lieutenants are practically carrying his 
messages. We may put down in passing the following 
axiom : 

"It is not expected ,that a salesman can make good if 
his employer does not make good." 

Our firm, as was mentioned before, has branches in 
China and Japan, which is the only proper way to carry 
on a raw silk business, and at the time we established 
these branches we engaged local inspectors over there, 
but after a few months we sent a young man to Japan from 
our selling staff and after two years' experience he turned 
out to be a very good assistant — so much so, in fact, that 
in the absence of our regular inspector who is now here 
on a vacation, he is filling the position. However, we do 
not expect to leave him there because he is too good a 
salesman ,to be wasted on silk inspection, but what he has 
acquired in knowledge of the silk, will give him a tremend- 
ous confidence which will add to his ability to sell for us. 
We will have him back after a while and send in his place 



164 Raw Silk 

our young man who needs to know what raw silk is 
made of. We would not do this if the young man had not 
proved his ability beyond question, and we know that every- 
body will gain by such action. 

It is evident that a buyer knowing exactly what the re- 
quirements are for each one of his customers will be better 
posted than one who has never visited the New York 
market. This is why our salesmen are sent to the buying 
markets every two or three years to buy and inspect raw 
silk, and that by this continuous exchange of position they 
know that their customers by being better served, will 
place their utmost confidence in ,them. 

We are, however, diverging from the question of sales- 
manship which we are here to study. 

How can a salesman make good if he has only the 
average qualifications? If you question a very successful 
one, he wnll probably answer either that he cannot help 
selling, no matter what, or that he is working hard to 
attain success. 

Now we do not believe in any of the above answers 
taken singly, but they are both partly true. It requires 
as much brain work to sell any kind of goods, as it 
required to construct the Woolworth Building. However 
big the comparison seems, if you go to the bottom of it, 
you will find that the salesman who understands his busi- 
ness land makes good, is constantly awake and planning 
the possibilities of further business. Another axiom that 
holds good is: 

"A manager who treats salesmen like brainless machines 
cannot train good salesmen." 

There is no man, unless he possesses the power of sugges- 
tion, who can sell at first sight; and no one can sell with- 
out the authority which comes from the know^ledge of 
his subject. 

To dress as well as you can and try to look distinguished 
is certainly good advice. A man may look like a farmer 
all his life if he wants to. That many buyers are impressed 
by the personal appearance of a salesman is a fact recog- 
nized by all. 

Speak of your subject with authority. Try to be always 



The Making of a Raw Silk Salesman 165 

sure of what you propose to your customer. See that the 
quality you offer is what you say it is, and that you are sure 
of the price. Do not give the buyer the impression that 
you have to consult somebody else about it because your 
wise buyer will think that he will get you. 

Try always to know when the mills will be in need of 
raw silk, what they are making and what they need to 
make it with. Be on the spot when ,they are in the market. 

Do not confine your study to raw silk, but study also 
manufacturing so that you will know better what kinds 
of raw silks are actually going to be used. By advising the 
buyer in advance it will give you a chance to sell at 
the proper time. 

Above all study your customers. They may all buy the 
same thing but they do not buy it in the same way. Re- 
member that if you are not gifted to judge a man at first 
sight you had better make a close study of your man so 
as to get as near his heart as possible. 

Aside from the question that your prices are attractive 
and that you know all about ,the raw silk business, your 
relations with the buyers go to make the success of your 
firm. In America more than anywhere else, the larger 
part of the tremendous business transacted is between 
friends. Make friends then. It pays! Customers like to 
be called upon often and advised as much as possible. Try 
to give valuable information about market fluctuations and 
the trend of fashion. 

It is better to miss a sale at the cost of giving good 
advice, because it will pay in the long run. 

Impress your customer with the idea that you are work- 
ing for his own good. Try to have his confidence so .that 
your advice will be valuable to him and he will depend 
upon you to look after his interests when he buys silks from 
you. 

Never misrepresent the goods that you are selling. Do 
not offer them to a manufacturer that you know cannot 
use them or will experience difficulties in the mill. Better 
use your brain and see who could use the goods without 
question. 

Dignity and honesty are the basis of your business career 



166 Raw Silk 

and you should not sell what you consider is not proper 
to sell under any circumstances or denomination. 

Remember that if you are successful now, even with all 
your fine qualifications, you may not be tomorrow, but 
that if you have a straightforward reputation you will be 
successful in the long run. 



Chapter IV. 



Raw Silks Used in New York 

Japans 

ALL American manufacturers use Japans for their 
fabrics. Half of them use no other silk. The fol- 
lowing qualities and sizes are imported all the year round: 

Filatures 

Double extras ... 10/12 11/13 12/14 13/15 14/16 16/18 

20/22 

Extras 11/13 12/14 13/15 14/16 16/18 18/20 

20/22 24/26 28/30 30/32 34/36 

Best No. 1 13/15 14/16 16/18 18/20 20/22 24/26 

28/30 

No. 1 13/15 13/16 14/16 

Above sizes apply to intermediate qualities. 

Chinas 

Manufacturers of tulle and mousseline are now buying a 
fair quantity of high-class fine-sized filatures. Coarse sizes 
are more reliable than white Italians at equal prices. Chinas 
are suitable for all purposes and superior to Japans in sizes 
below 13/15. 
Extras 9/11 10/12 11/13 12/14 13/15 14/16 

16/18 20/22 
Best No. 1 10/12 11/13 12/14 13/15 14/16 16/18 

18/20 20/22 24/26 
No. 1 13/15 14/16 

Tsatlees 

This class of silk is bought exclusively by the sewing silk 
manufacturers. The sizes of the many grades are all ir- 
regular and coarse from 16/20 to 26/30. 

167 



168 Raw Silk 



Tussah 



This class of wild silk is used largely by carpet manu- 
facturers, the cotton mills, for mixed fabrics, the insulating 
wire mills, and for shantungs and pongee imitations. The 
usual size of eight cocoons silks best grades is 30/40 deniers. 
A small quantity of low grade tussah, native and water- 
reels, in very coarse sizes up to 500 deniers is imported 
for fancy tussor imitations. 

Cantons 

The crepe de Chine and velvet mills take up the largest 
quantity of Cantons in size 14/16, in the grades XXA crack 
and ordinary. New style 14/16 and 20/22 is used in piece 
dyed goods and Jacquard weaves in substitution for Tsat- 
lees and mixing with Japan threads. 

The New England cotton mills buy Canton on quills 
quality XXB in the sizes 14/16 and 22/26. 

Yellow Italians 

Two-thirds of ,the Italian silks imported to New York are 
for single weaving and enter into the manufacture of high 
class goods, mostly satins. The qualities called Extra Class- 
ical and Classical are reeled in sizes from 10/12 to 28/30 and 
sizes in between. Sizes 12/14 and finer are used more 
for organzine in the better grades. Best No. 1 and Realinas 
are made into warps and sold on beams to the cotton mills 
for their mixed fabrics, the sizes ranging from 14/16 and 
above. 

White Italians 

Raw silks called white Italians are spun in Italy from 
Levant cocoons. The best are Extra Adrianople, which are 
used in the very fine sizes for the same purposes as Chinas. 
The Brussa and Turkestans reeled in coarse sizes may be 
attractive if offered at prices meeting the Japanese com- 
petition. When conditions in the Near East are righted 
again, much can be done in sericulture and filatures in gen- 
eral for direct exportation to America. 



CLASSIFICATIONS 



Classifications 

Grades of Italian Silks Generally Imported to New York. 

Yellow 

Per lb. 

Grand Extra Classical like Caru $4.30 

Best Extra Classical like Chicco Fossano 4.20 

Extra A, like J?'^"^' .E"°' ^ormam 

I Lancenigo ore 4.10 

["Chiari, Padovani, Brunich 
Extra B, like ^ Frizzi Udine, 

ICornaredo Dubini, Palmanova. 4.00 

Extra to Classical, Hke jPi^\f'^°'-a' ^rsene, Frova 

iSan Martino, Pordenone 3.95 

fArzignano, Belgioioso, 
Classical, like <{ Sanazzaro, Marcato, 

[Casalbuttano 3.90 

Best No. 1, like jArtiero, Rivergaro, Vittorio 

|Cologna 3.80 

Qualities from Grand Extra down to Classical are good 
for single weaving. The quality Best No. 1 and lower 
grades like Realinas are imported only in comparatively 
small quantities for organzine. 

White 

The best cocoons from Italy, Messina and Adrianople, 
reeled by Italian filatures have the same grading as yellow 
cocoons. Whitish Turkestan, also reeled in Italy, comes 
to New York in coarse sizes in the qualities Extra and 
Classical (first and second choices). Prices compared with 
yellow silks, extra $3.70; classical $3.60. 

JAPAN 

In the 1913 edition I gave an extensive list of Japanese 
filatures, the so-called Kansai, Sinshiu and Re-reels being 
given separately. Since re-reels are bound to disappear and 
'Sinshiu is generally accepted without specification, the fol- 

170 



Classifications 171 

lowing is the correct classification of Japanese raws on the 
New York market: 

Comparative 
Prices in Yen. 
Grand Double ^Kawano, gold turtle 

Extra, like iMuroyama, hive yen 1000 

T^ t 1 T^ ^ A ri fHodono, dancing girl 
Double Extra A, like ^' _ \ ^^ ^ __^ 

I Gunze, pheasant yen 980 

Double Extra B, like {Yoneya, stork 

I Yamanashi, crown yen 960 

Best Extra, like jKinposha, kirin 

iNanpokan, peacock yen 950 

Extra like ^Kusanageisha, money bag 

|Yamatogumi, 3 gold rings. yen 940 

Best No. 1 to ^Hakuosha, iris 

Extra, like |Okaya, sun yen 930 

Best No. 1, like {Hosansha, peony 

) Fukokukan, turtle yen 920 

No. 1 hard nature, like J^^^^^^'' <="? °^ «°^'^ 

/Yamato, 3 fans yen 900 

No. 1-1^ Yoko- ^Nipponsha, gold peach boy 

hama jo-ichi, like |Katakura, gold diamond ...yen 890 

No. VA, like jNipponsha, silver 

/Katakura, silver yen 885 

The above are understood to be white silks. Yellow silks 
have the same classification but are sold at a lower price. 

Kakeda 

Comparative 
prices in yen. 
Gold Cup, size about 11 to 12 900 

Lady 12 to 13 870 

One Horse 13 to 14j4 850 

Two Horses 13^^ to 15^ 830 

Three Horses 14 to 16 810 

Chickens 16 to 17 790 

Gold Elephant 17 to 18 770 

A small quantity of the three first chops are imported to 
America. 



172 



Raw Silk 



Tamaito (Doppioni) 
Sanshu 

Cherry Flower, size about 20/25 yen 600 

Maple .30/50 '' 500 

Peacock 30/50 '' 510 

Five Doves 30/55 " 470 

Chicken 35/55 " 410 

Rose 40/50 " 370 
A good sized quantity of the Rose chop is imported to 
America. 

Oshu 

One bamboo, size about 25/35 yen 410 

Two bamboos 35/45 " 380 

Djoshu. 

Extra, size about 180/200 yen 250 

1 above 200 " 220 

2 " " 190 

3 " " 150 

CHINA 

Steam Filatures. Comparative 

Prices in Taels. 

Double Extra, like J^in Cheong, factory 

^ Soy Lun, anchor 880 

Fxtra like 1^^^" ^^"' centaur 

^'"' ^'^' |Yah Ha, W. T. K 860 

Best No. 1 to ^Koon Tai, mulberry 

Extra, like \ Dah Lun, stork 840 

T) , T.T ^ i-1 (Kin Zen, geranium 

Best No. 1, like ' ' ^ 

] Soy Fong, mountain 820 

XT -. n (Young Tai, deer 

No. 1, like ^ ^, ^_ ' 

) Chue Zen, fountain 800 

No. 1-1/., like .^Ting Yue, jacquard 

^Yuen Fong, moon star 780 

No. 2. like P^^ L""' P^"°^ 

1 Chue Zen, sampan 760 

No. 3, like F"^ Y"^"' mistletoe 

I Yah Wo, jockey 750 



Classifications 



173 



Szechuen, Mienchu and Shantung filatures, whether 
Shanghai or Japan style, are used in too small quantity 
on the New York market to be classified. 



Classification of Shanghai Re-reels 



Crack Chops 



Comparative 
Prices in Taels. 



May Hun Yee 

May Hun Yee 

May Hun Yee 

May Hun Yee 

Shing Hwa 

Woo Son Dong 

Zun Kee 

Tai Kong 

Pee Van May 

Pee Van May 

Tai Shing 

Yin Kee 

Chur Yue Mow 

Mow Kee 

Zung Kee 

Yue Chong Zung 

Hung May Chong 

Yung May 

Tuck Wall Chang 

Sze Sze Shing 

Tai Chang Foo Kee 

Shou Soo Shing 

Ching Kee 

Sun E. Tah 

Zee Shing 

See May Zee 

Foh May Yue 



Gold Eagle & Bell Ex.1.2. 
Blue Dragon " 

Almond Flower & Moon " 
Red Almond Flower *' 
Gold Dragon " 

Gold Dollar 

Stars and Stripes 1.2.3 

Lion and Scale " 

Two Gold Swallows Ex.1.2 
Old Black Horse 
Solstice A. B.C. 

Blue Monster " 

Gold Fish Ex.1.2 

Double Gold Eagle '' 
Dragon and Flag '' 

Gold Peacock " 

Gold H Mark 
Gold Zebra " 

Five Lions " 

Cloud and Lion " 

Gold Motor Car 
Flying Eagle, Gold Silver&Red 
Three Gold Josses Ex.1.2 
Red Mark A.B.C. 

Galley Red, Blue, Black 
Gold Sycee Boy Ex.1.2 
Gold Riding Horse 1.2.3 



660/50/40 
640/30/20 



635/25/15 



630/20/10 



625/15/05 
615/05/595 



174 



Raw Silk 





Middling Chops. 






May Hun Yee 


Silver Eagle & Bell 


Ex.1.2 


630/20/10 


May Hun Yee 


Feima or Flying Horse '' 


610/00/590 


May Hun Yee 


Almond Flower & Stone " 


u 


May Hun Yee 


Green Almond Flower " 


a 


Shing Hwa 


Gold Pagoda or 
Gold Crown 


u 


(( 


Woo Son Dong 


Fountain 


" 


" 


Zun Zee 


Red Indian 


1.3.3 


a 


Tai Kong 


Sheep and Flag 


<' 


i( 


Pee Van May 


Two Silver Swallows Ex.1. 2 


(< 


Pee Van May 


Old Yellow Horse 


" 


<( 


Tai Shing 


Two Globes 


A.B.C. 


" 


Yin Yee 


Silver Fish 


Ex.1.2 


(( 


Chur Yue Mow 


Race Horse 


" 


(< 


Mow Kee 


Double Silver Eagle 


*' 


i( 


Zung Kee 


Wild Man 


" 


<( 


Yue Chong Zung 


Silver Peacock 


<' 


*' 


Hung May Chong 


Silver H. Mark 


<< 


(( 


Yung May 


Silver Zebra 


" 


t( 


Tuck Wah Chang 


Leopard 


i( 


605/595/585 


Sze Sze Shing 


Flying Stork 


" 


(< 


Tai Chong Foo Kee 


Silver Motor Car 


'' 


(( 


Shou Soo Shing 


Horse Gold, Silver & Red 600/590/580 


Ching Kee 


Three Silver Josses 


Ex.1.2 


a 


Sun E. Tah 


Blue Mark 


A.B.C. 


" 


Zee Ching 


Dragon Boat 


1.2.3 595/585/575 


Zee May Zee 


Silver Sycee Boy 


Ex.1.2 


585/75/65 


Foh May Zue 


Silver Riding Horse 


1.2.3 


<( 


May Hun Yee 


Blue Eagle and Bell 


Ex.1.2 


610/00/590 


May Hun Yee 


Gold Mowtai Peony 


1.2.3 


600/590/80 


Yin Kee 


Gold Kangaroo 


Ex.1.2 


u 


Yin Kee 


Flying Dragon 


1.2.3 


(( 


Foh Mu Yee 


Blue Horse 


" 


590/80/70 





Classifications 


175 




Common Chops 




Shing Hwa 


Columbia 


Ex.1.3 580/570/560 


May Hun Yee 


Black Lion 


1.2.3 


Sze Yu Ching 


Three Arrows 


U (( 


Yue Chong Zung 


Red Peacock 


Ex.1.2 


Yin Kee 


Gold Dollar 


it tt 


Taichong Too Kee 


Gold Eagle & Skein 


1.2.3 575/565/555 


Pee Van May 


Old White Horse 
Two Red Swallows 


Ex.1.2 


Yah Kee 


Wild Dragon 


1.2.3 


Sze Sze Shing 


Small Buffalo 


Ex.1.2 


a 


Gold Stork 


1.2.3 


((' 


Gold Phoenix 


(( « 


Tak Kong 


Oregon 


Ex.1.2 


Lun Kee 


Moon and Fairy 


1.2.3 


Ho Foh Nien 


Gold Watch 


a u 


Sin Chong 


Gold Buffalo 


a tt 


May Hun Yee 


Black Mowtai Peon> 


r " " 


Yung May 


Blue Zebra 


Ex.1.2 


Yoa Dai Zung 


Red Elephant 


it ti 


Sze Sze Shing 


Mars S.iS.S. 


it <( 


Tsun Kee 


Black Hand 


Ex.1.2 575/565/555 


Zung Kee 


Medal 


1.2.3 570/560/550 


May Hun Yee 


Water Lily Flower 


(< ti 


Pee Van May 


Two Black Swallows 


Ex.1.2 


Sze Sze Shing 


Silver Stork 


1.2.3 


(( 


Double Mars S.S.S. 


U (< 


Chin Tah 


Gold Mars 


1.2 560/550 


Yah Kee 


Shield & Flag 


Ex.1.2 560/550/540 


(( 


Arrow & Bow 


(( (( 


(( 


Blue Star 


(( (( 


May Hun Yee 


Yellow Lion 


1.2.3 555/545/535 


Tsun Kee 


Clock 


1.2 555/545 


Tsze Yue Ching 


Crossed Flags 


u tt 


Tai Kong 


Woman & Loom 


1.2.3 555/545/535 


Yue Chang Zung 


Soleil 


1.2 555/545 


Foo Kee 


Black Double Guns 


1.2.3 550/540/530 


Foh May Yue 


Red Riding Horse 


tt tt 


Shing Hwa 


Gold Cash 


1.2 540/530 


King Kee 


Savage 


(( a 



176 Raw Silk 

Classification of Tsatlee Cross-reels 

Extra Best Chops 

Comparative 

Prices in Taels. 

May Hun Yee H Blue Dragon Ex.1.2 640/630/620 

" H Feima or Flying Horse " 610/600/590 

Woo Son Dong Gold Butterfly 1.2.3 630/620/610 

" Butterfly and Almond 

Flower " 600/590/580 

Sun Pai Zan Fighting Cock A.B.C. 630/620/610 

Cock and Centipede 1.2.3 600/590/580 
Vee Kee Old Man Ex.1.2 630/620/610 

Double Man 1.2.3 600/590/580 

Chur Yue May H Blue Monster Ex.1.2 630/20/10 

H Race Horse " 600/590/80 

Yin Kee H Gold Fish " 625/15/05 

H Silver Fish " 595/85/75 

So Yuet Kee Cloud & Stork " 620/610/590 

Blue Lion 1.2.3 590/580/570 

Soh Sun Meh Cat & Gold Butterfly Ex.1.2 620/610/600 

" Cat and Bee 1.2.3 590/580/570 

Extra Chops. 
Sun Chin Kee Plough 1.2.3 600/590/580 

Chee Kee Gold Hand Skein 

Sun E Tah Sun E Tah A.B.C. 

Tai Chang Foo Kee Atlas Ex. 1.2.3 600/590/580/570 

Lee Hun Tah Gold Flying Dragon " " 

Good 1 Chops. 
Sze Sze Shing H Buffalo Ex.A.B.C. 580/570/560/550 

H Pegasus Ex.1.2.3 
Pee Van May H Black Horse 

Tai Chang Foo Kee Bicycle " " 

Nien Kee H Grasshopper 

Ex.A.B.C.D. 580/570/560/550/540 
Yee Tsun Gold Pheasant 

1.2.3.4 580/570/560/550 
Chun Kee H Mountain & Pagoda 

A.B.C.D. 



Classifications 177 

Shou Yuet Kee Blue Lion 1.2.3 580/570/560 

Shee Yin Kee Flying Tiger 

A.B.C.D. 580/570/560/550 
Sing Cheong Red Eagle Ex.1.2.3 

Lee Hun Tah Double Fish Ex. 1.2 

No. 1 Chops. 
Tai Chang Foo Kee Gold Goat 1.2.3.4 560/550/540/530 
Lee Kee Yellow Tiger 

1.2.3.4 
Sze Sze Shing H Small Buffalo 

Ex.1.2 560/550/540 
Pee Yin Tah Gold Tiger " *' 

Yin Kee H Gold Dollar 

Pee Van May H Gold Mars 1.2.3 550/540/530 

Tai Chang Foo Kee Eagle and 

Skein Ex.1.2 

Tah Kong Oregon " " 

Sze Sze Shing H Mars SSS " " 

So Yuet Kee Marks SYK " 545/535/525 

Tsung Mue H White Horse 

Ex.1.2.3.4 545/535/525/515/505 
Chun Tah H Gold Mars Ex.1.2 

Yue Chang Zung Gold Unicorn 

Ex.1.2 540/530/520 

No. 2 Chops. 
Kee Dah Mercury Ex.1.2 53*5/5^5/515 

Kung Kee H Mars 1.2 530/520 

Tai Chang Foo Kee Genet *' " 

Ying Kee H Star & Cloud " 520/510 

Sze Sze Shing Steam Boat " " 

Soo Kee Double Birds " 



H means that these chops produce also Heineens of same classification. 



178 



Raw Silk 



Extra 

Best No. 1 
No. 1 
No. l-VA 
No. 2 
No. 3 



Tussah Filatures 



j Black Pagoda 
^^^^^ Double Dragons 
j Black Magpie 
)Worm and Leaf 



like 



^Gold Toad 



like 



') Single Deer 
(Black Fir Tree 
' I Lighthouse 
^., (Gold Watch 
^^^^^Five Stars 

(Green Locomotive 
^^^^ I Blue Cash 



Taels. 
310 
300 
290 
280 
270 
250 



CANTON FILATURES 



Special Double Extra like 

Extra Extra A, Cracks like 
Extra Extra A 

Extra Extra B, Cracks like 

Extra Extra B like 

Extra A like 

Extra B like 



[Wing Cheong Seng 
^Tsung Wai Hang 
[King Seng 



'|Mee Kee 

,., (Kwong Shun Cheong 
like^ - 



) Kwong Wo Hing 
[Kwong Seng 
|Yu King 
[King Shing 
)U Hau Cheong 
(Soey Lun 
^Fook Kee 
[Kum King 
I Hip Kee 



Mex. $ 
840 
800 
790 
780 
770 
760 
750 



New style or re-reeled filatures are worth about (Mex.) 
$100 more per bale. 



Raw Silk Firms of the World 



Raw Silk Firms 

Raw and Waste Silk Exporters in the Far East. 

Yokohama 
Bavier & Co. 
Buisson, A. 

Compagnie Generale d'Extreme Orient. 
Comptoirs Soies 
Cornes & Co. 
Dourille & Co., P. 
Eymard & Co., C. 
General Silk Importing Co., Inc. 
Isaacs & Co., S., Ltd. 
Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd. 
Jewett «Sc Bent 
Nabhoiz & Co. 
Pfister & Co., R. 
Pila & Co. 
Piq & Cie., C. 
Samuel Samuel & Co., Ltd. 
Siber, Hegner & Co. 
Strahler & Co., F. 
Sulzer, Rudolph & Co. 
Villa Bros, of Japan, Ltd. 
Vivanti Bros. 
Zellweger & Co., E., S.A. 
Gosho Kabushiki Kaisha. 
Hara Yushutsuten 
International Trading Corporation 
Kuhara Trading Co., Ltd. 
Mitsui Bussan Kwaisha 
Mitsubishi & Co. 
Nichi-Bei Shoji Kabushiki Kaisha 
Ono & Co. 
Shinj^ei & Co. 
Suzuki & Co. 
Takata & Co. 
Yokohama Ki-ito Kwaisha, Ltd. 

180 



Raw Silk Firms 181 

Shanghai 



A. Arnaud-Coste & R. V. Dent 

Arnhold Brothers & Co., Ltd. 

Azadian, Jacques 

Boyer, Mazet & Co. 

R. Pfister & Co. 

General Silk Importing Company 

Burkhardt, Amidani & Co. 

Burkhill & Sons, A. R. 

Carisio, C. 

China Silk & Agency Co., Ltd., The 

Clerici, Bedoni & Co. 

Codsi Freres 

Dyce & Co. 

Goyet, E. 

Heffer & Co., F. C. 

Huber & Co., E. 

Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd. 

Little & Co., William 

Madier Freres 

Marthoud Freres 

Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, Ltd. 

Nabholz & Co. 

Patel & Co., A. C. 

Paturel, C. 

Probst, Hanbury & Co., Ltd. 

Puthod, A. 

Rayner, Heusser & Co. 

Reiss & Co. 

Rheims & Rini 

Sassoon & Co., Ltd., David 

Sauvayre, J. 

Shahmoon, E. E. 

Somekh & Co., B. A. 

Sulzer, Rudolph & Co. 

Suzuki & Co. 

Tata vSons & Co. 

Villa Bros, of Shanghai, Ltd. 



182 Raw Silk 

Canton 

Arnhold Bros. & Co., Ltd. 

Boyer, Mazet, & Co. 

Compagnie Generale d'Extreme Orient 

Deacon & Co., Ltd. 

Herbert Dent & Co. 

La Generale Soies 

General Silk Importing Co., Inc. 

Gerin, Drevard & Co. 

T. E. Griffith, Ltd. 

Hogg, Karanjia & Co., Ltd. 

Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd. 

Madier Freres. 

Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, Ltd. 

Reiss & Co. 

J. Sauvayre 

Spalinger, Dowler & Co. 

U. Spalinger 

Th. Varenne & Co. 

Villa Bros, of Canton, Ltd. 



Raw Silk Firms 183 



Raw and Waste Silk Importers 

New York 
American Raw Silk Co., 25 Madison Ave. 
Arnhold Brothers, 21 State St. 
Betchtel, Ed. E., 112 East 19th St. 
Beolchi &'Co., V. M., 25 Madison Ave. 
Berizzi Bros. Co., 15 East 26th St. 
Doblin, Leo L., 404 Fourth Ave. 
Eagle, J. H. & C. K., 265 Fourth Ave. 
Equity Silk Co., 95 Madison Ave. 
Facchetti-Guiglia, A., 354 Fourth Ave. 
Franck, Henri, 432 Fourth Ave. 
Frost, Inc., Frank, 15 East 26th St. 
General Silk Importing Co., 440 Fourth Ave. 
Gerli & Co., E., 119 East 27th St. 
Giriat, D., 450 Fourth Ave. 
Gosho Corporation, 334 Fourth Ave. 
Guerin & Fils, Vve., 106 East 19th St. 
Gwalter & Co., H. L., 95 Madison Ave. 
Hadden & Co., 25 Madison Ave. 
Import Service Corporation, 95 Madison Ave. 
Innes & Co., Inc., 132 Front St. 
Japan Cotton Trading Co., Inc., 25 Madison Ave. 
Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., 25 Madison Ave. 
Kahn & Feldman, Inc., 38 East 29th St. 
Kuhara Trading Co., 471 Fourth Ave. 
Kyosangumi & Co., 32 Union Square 
Littauer & Co., Inc., Ludwig, 30 East 33rd St. 
Mindlin & Rosenman Co., 105 East 29th St. 
Mitsubishi & Co., 295 Fifth Ave. 
Mitsui & Co., Ltd., 25 Madison Ave. 
Morimura, Arai & Co., 44 East 23rd St. 
Muller, Paul, 95 Madison Ave. 
Murray, Russell, & Co., 454 Broome St. 
Nielsen, Victor, 235 Fifth Ave. 



184 Raw Silk 

Ohki, S., 225 Fifth Ave. 
Raw Silk Trading Co., 31 East 27th St. 
Ryle & Co., Wm., 225 Fourth Ave. 
Salembier & Villate, 404 Fourth Ave. 
SmilHe & Co., Chas. V., 27 Cedar St. 
Strahler & Co., F., 95 Madison x\ve. 
Straus & Co., F. A., 451 Fourth Ave. 
Sulzer, Rudolph & Co., 334 Fourth Ave. 
Suzuki & Co., 297 Fifth Ave. 
Takata & Co., 432 Fourth Ave. 
Universal-Industrial Corp., 354 Fourth Ave. 
Villa & Bros., A. P., 95 Madison Ave. 
Vivanti Bros., 95 Madison Ave. 
Wenger & Co., S. A., 95 Madison Ave. 

SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, 354 Fourth Ave. 
U. S. TESTING CO., 340 Hudson St. 



Raw Silk Firms 185 



Raw and Waste Silk Dealers 

Lyons 
UNION DES MARCHANDS DE SOIES, 29 rue Puits 

Gaillot. 
CONDITION PUBLIQUE DES SOIES, 7 rue St. Poly- 

carpe. 
Alex. Saubiez & Co., 14 rue Desiree 
Arnaud Coste & R. V. Dent, 11 rue du Caret 
Armandy, Veuve G. & Co., 2 quai de Retz 
Aubert Broschenin & Cie, 2 rue des Feuillants 
Bechetoille, A., 16 rue Pizay 
Bertrand, H., 26 rue Lafont. 
Boutet Freres & Co., 4 quai de Retz. 
Boyer, Mazet & Co., 1 quai de Retz. 
Chabriere, Morel & Co., 20 rue Lafont. 
Chamonard, Frachon & Co., 9 rue de I'Arbre Sec. 
Champagnac & Montrion, 21 ru des Caprucins. 
Chantelot P. & Co., 11 rue du Caret. 
Chavanis, P., & Cie., 8 quai de Retz. 
Compagnie Generale d'Extreme Orient, 72 rue Vendome 
Cozon Freres, 5 quai de Retz. 
Crouzon, M. & Co., 24 rue Pizay. 
Debrabant, 16 rue Desiree. 
Dent, Herbert, & Co., 7 rue Terraile. 
Deprez, F., 8 rue du Griffon. 
Deydier, Barmont & Cie., 19 rue Puits Gaillot. 
Emery, L., 13 rue du Caret. 
Etienne P., Rochette & Co., 3 rue Pizay 
Faure, L. E., 4 rue Desiree. 
Geoffray, 43 Vielle Monnaie. 
Gerin, Drevard & Cie., 15 rue du Caret. 
Gros & Co., 3 rue du Caret. 
Guerin & Fils, Vve., 31 rue Puits Gaillot. 
Hara & Cie., 11 rue du Caret. 
Julien, J., 27 rue Puits Gaillot. 



186 Raw Silk 

Lacroix, H., & Leblanc, 24 rue Lafont. 

La Generale Soies, 27 rue Puits Gaillot. 

La Soie, 13 rue Dubois. 

Lienard, A., 20 rue Ste. Catharine. 

Longin & Co., 33 rue Puits Gaillot 

Marchand, Etienne & Co., 2 rue Puits Gaillot 

May, J., & Co., 16 rue Lafont. 

Mayor, Ch., & Co., 7 quai de Retz. 

Millet & Miniere, 2 rue Lafont. 

Mitsui & Co., Ltd., 8 rue Lafont. 

Mollard Freres, 5 petite rue des TeuUants. 

Moreau, C, 22 rue Lafont. 

Morin, Murit & Douarre, 11 rue de I'Arbre Sec. 

Morin-Pons, 11 rue de I'Arbre Sec. 

Muggiani, L Bertholon, 14 rue Desiree. 

Nabholz & Co., 3 quai de Retz. 

Neyrard, J., 1 rue Puits Gaillot. 

Palluat, Testenoire & Cie., 13 rue du Griffon. 

Payen, L., & Co., 9 rue Pizay. 

Payet, Louis, 26 Place Tolozan. 

Pezaz, M., 23 rue du Bat d'Argent. 

Peillon & Merieux, 1 rue du Theatre. 

Perrin, H., Bruno & Co., 4 rue Desiree. 

Peyrac, R. P., 33 rue de la Republique. 

Pila & Co., 2 rue de la Republique. 

Rose, Marius, & Cie., 2 rue Puits Gaillot. 

Societe Lyonaise sericole et soies d'Extreme Orient, 1 rue 

de la Republique. 
Soies Asiatiques, 19 rue du Bat d'Argent. 
de Soulange, J., 11 rue du Garet. 
Sulzer, Rudolph & Co., 14 rue du Garet. 
Terrail Payen & Cie., 1 rue de la Republique. 
Tranchand, J., 3 rue Pizay. 
Tresca, L., & Cie., 17 rue du Bat d'Argent. 
Trunel, Riviere & Picolet, 16 rue Desiree 
Varenne & Proton, 19 rue de I'Arbre Sec. 



Raw Silk Firms 187 



Raw and Waste Silk Dealers 

Milan 
Sociata Anonima Cooperative per la 
STAGIONATURA E UASSAGGIO DELLE SETE ED 

AFFINI IN MILANO, 33 via Moscova. 
Alberico, Carlo, 44 foro Bonaparte. 
Andreae, A. & Cia., 3 via Cernaia. 
Appendeller, Giovanni, 23 via Solferino. 
Banda fratelli, 18 via Lauro. 
Bandera, Giuseppe, 10 via Ciovassino. 
Banfi, Bernardo & Lorenzo, 9 via Brera. 
Barzaghi, Giovanni, 8 via Oriani. 
Beaux, Auguste, 5 via Cusani. 
Beaux, Giorgio, 43 foro Bonaparte. 
Beretta, Annibale, 18-30 via Brera. 
Bonazzi, G. & Figlio, 5 via Palermo. 
Boneschi, Arturo, 1 via Romagnosi. 
Bortolotti, Romeo, 13 via Pontaccio. 
Borzoni, Gaetano & Verasi, 3 via Ciavassino. 
Boselli fratelli fu Alfonso, 14 via Pontaccio. 
Bosone, Carlo, 10 via Pontaccio. 
Bossi, Hoppeller & Farrario, 31 via Bigli. 
Boutet, A. & Co., 4 via Bossi. 
Branca, Ernesto, 5 via Goito. 
Buzzoni, Fraschini & Cia., 7 via Orso. 
Caminada, Pietro, 36 via Borgonuova. 
Cappela, A., 10 via Pontaccio. 
Capriolo, Carlo, 10 via Ciovassino. 
Caraceni, Carlos, 4 via Cusani. 
Casanova, Carlos, 6 via Orso. 
Castagna, Dionigi, 14 via Pentaccio. 
Cavadini, Albondio, 10 via Filodrammatici. 
Cavadini, L., 1 via M. di Pieta. 
Cavenaghi, G., 13 via Brera. 
Cesaris, Camilio, 5 via S. Tomasco. 
Chicco, Francesco, 6 via Ariosto. 



188 Raw Silk 

Colli, Giocamo & Cia., 11 via Solferino. 

Colombo, Edoardo, 2 via Giovassino. 

Colombo, P. & Co., 70 foro Bonaparte. 

Comi, Achille, 14 via Brera. 

Consoonno, Aless., 8 via Lauro. 

Consonno, Fortuna, ditta, 8 via Brera. 

Corsi, Giovanni, 13 via Cusani. 

Corti, ing. G., 18 via Brera. 

Cova, Leopoldo fu E., 7 via Meravigli. 

Cundig, Sacchi & Co., 1 via Stelvio. 

Curti, Edoardo, 54 foro Bonaparte. 

Del Bo, Croci & Casati, 8 via Nerino. 

DeirOro, Al., 16 via Cusani. 

DeirOrto, Att. & Co., 18 via Brera. 

De Ponti fratelli, 6 via Lauro. 

Dilatura Seriche Cuzzi, 4 via M. di Biera. 

Dozzio, Giov., e Figlio, 37 via Monte Napoleone. 

Dubini, G. & Cia, 11 via Borgonuovo. 

Dubini fratelli & Co., 2 piazza Belgioiose. 

Dubini, Mario, 24 via Solferino. 

Fabbriche Riunite di Seterie Da Fano & Co., 4 Maggiolini. 

Facchetti-Guilia, A., 4 via Brera. 

Ferrario, Francesco di P., 11 via Ciovasso. 

Fossati, Decino, 21 via Brera. 

Gadda, E. & Co., 16 via Brera. 

Gallese, Giuseppe, 5 via Brera. 

Garavaglia, Francesco, 4 via Lauro. 

Gavazzi, Pietro, 8 via Giuseppe-Verdi. 

Generale Soie, La., 19 via Solferino. 

Gerosa & Ghidini, 21 via Brera. 

Giambarini, Antonio, 14 via Solferino. 

Gilli, Giovanni, (ditta), 13 via Statuto. 

Gilbert, A. & Cie., 20 via Brera. 

Giraud, Ugo, 18-20 via Brera. 

Grandi, Rinaldo, 7 via Giulini. 

Graffelder, Enrico, 10 via Brera. 

Guerin, Veuve & Fils., 4 via Giuseppe Verdi. 

Guzzi, Cesare, 6 via Lauro. 

Handmann, Arminio, 35 via Boccaccio. 

Hauffmann, Carlo, 6 via Bottonuto. 



Raw Silk Firms 189 

Hilaret, Carlo, 11 via Ciovasso. 

Hirzel, Emile-W., 1 via Oriani. 

Introini, E., 14 via G.-B. Bazzoni. 

Job, Carlo, 10 via Pontaccio. 

Lazzaroni, A., 2 via Ciovassino. 

Locatelli, Luigi, 3 via Bossi. 

Maga, Ang., 3 piazza Scala. 

Magnocavallo, succ, 34 foro Bonaparte. 

Mambroni, Angelo & Co., 3 via Lauro. 

Marchetti, Carlo, 46 foro Bonaparte. 

Marimonti, Luigi, 2 via Orso. 

Maumary, Eug., 5 via Maddalena. 

Melgunoff, Sergio, 11 via Andegari. 

Meregalli, Carlo, 8 via Oriani. 

Meyer, Edo'ardo, 2 via Borgonuovo. 

Meyer, Enrico & Co., 4 via M. di Pieta. 

Mira, F., 16 via Moscova. 

Mira & Roth, 16 via Brera. 

Mischio & Miozzi, 18 via Solferino. 

Muller & Teodore, 7 via Fatebenefratelli. 

Nahmias, Salvatore, 46 foro Bonaparte. 

Negri Eman & Co., 12 via Torino. 

Oriani, Giorgio, 14 via Cusani. 

Orio, Riccardo, 14 via Cusani. 

Parisio, G. & Co., 2 via M. Macchi. 

Parravicini, Antonio, 18 via Solferino. 

Pattay, Maria, 5 via S. Tomaso. 

Perlasca, Alfredo, 14 via M. di Pieta. 

Peladini, G. & Co., 11 via Carmine. 

Piccaluga, A., 7 via Fiori Osculi. 

Piccolini, Giuseppe, 11 via Brera. 

Pisonis, G.-M., 9 via Brera. 

Piva, Sigismondo, 19 via S. Andrea. 

Pollaroli, Francesco, 5 via G. Verdi. 

Ponti, Orseo, 25 via Paljavicino. 

Ponzoni fratelli, 16 via Orso. 

Pozzi, Giuseppe, 21 via Ponte Vetero. 

Prima fratelli di Tremolada & Co., 17 via M. di Pieta. 

Radaelli, Leone, 8 via Amedei. 

Redaelli, Felice, 18 via Solferino. 



190 Raw Silk 

Riggio, A., 22 Piazza Castello. 

Riva, C, 18 via Lauro. 

Rocca, Vittorio, 9 via Cappuccio. 

Rocca, Romeo, 1 via Lauro. 

Ronchetti, Antonio, 8 via Cernoia. 

Ronchetti & Co., 11 via Ciovasco. 

Ronchetti, G. fu P. -A., 16 via Brera. 

Rosina, Roberto, 9 via Monte di Pieta. 

Rusconi, A., 14 via Monta di Pieta. 

Rusconi, G. et Figlio, 7 via Orso. 

Rusconi, Giuseppe, 11 via Cusani. 

Savisci, Ugo, 16 via S. Marco. 

Sbarbaro, Avrigo, 16 via Orso. 

Scioli & Stringa, 18 via Brera. 

Scotti, Arist., 3 via Bigli. 

Semenza, Enrico, 28 piazza Castello. 

Semenza, H., 19 via Solferino. 

Semtov, J. Aelion, 11 piazza Castello. 

Sericicole Italo Lyonnaise, 4 via Brera. 

Sessa, E., 19 via Rovello. 

Setificio fratelli Salvi, 4 viale Garibaldi. 

Silvestri, Guido, 21 via Brera. 

Sigg & Keller, 19 via Solferino. 

Sinigalia, Giovanni, 1 via P. Frisi. 

Societa Filatura Cascami di Seta, 3 via Brisa. 

Societa Italo Brasileira, 8 via G. Uberti. 

Societa Serica Italiana, 22 piazza Castello. 

Sommaruga, Cesare, 12 via Brera. 

Spasciani, E. & Co., 8 via Andegari. 

Steimann, E., 16 via Orso. 

Stucchi, Raul, 14 via Cusani. 

Talamano & Lecchi, 38 via Broletto. 

Tanzi, Primino, 71 c. Garibaldi. 

Tesini Malvezzi & Co., 14 via Orso. 

Torriani, C, 14 via Pontaccio. • 

Torricelli, Francesco, 14 via Cusani. 

Tramonti, Edoardo, 18 via M. Pieta. 

Treves Charollais & Co., 8 via Brera. 

Trudel, Ernesto, 24 via Solferino. 

Ulisse Tavolaccini, 16 via Brignole. 



Raw Silk Firms 191 



Valpondi Balilla, 3 via E. Sirtori. 
Viscardi, Caro, 16 via M. di Pieta. 
Vannoni, Giuseppe & Co., 18 via Brera. 
Vegezzi, Arnoldo, 52 via Spiga. 
Vigano, Federico, 2 via Lauro. 
Villa, A. & Bros., P., 13 via Statuto. 
Viscardi, Carlo, 16 via M. di Pieta. 
Vistarini, M.-L., via Marone. 
Vitali, Rodolfo, 7 via Rugg, Buscovich. 



192 Raw Silk 



Raw Silk Dealers 

Zurich 
Abegg & Cie, 30-1 Bahnhofstrasse. 
Appenzeller, E., & Cie, 6 Tiefenhofe. 
Banco Sete, 7-1 Thols.trasse. 
Easier & Cie, A. G., 32-1 Bahnhofstrasse. 
Beder & Cie, 38-2 Bliecherweg. 
Bianchi, Carl, 12-2 Gar.tenstr. 
Bodmer, L. H. Gebruder, 20 Peterstr. 
Bourgeois, Serge S. A., 1-1 Manneggplatz. 
Buchholz, C, 61-1 Talst. 
Buschor & Cie, 20-1 Peterstr. 
Corrodi & Cie, 13-1 Stadthausquai. 
Diener, C, 32-1 Brandschenkerstr. 
Dreyfus, Albert, 2-2 Splugenstr. 
Dursteler, F. & Cie, 12-6 Gallurstrasse. 
Eichenberger, Herni., 1-2 Traubenstr. 
Enz, Oscar R., 14-1 Fraumunsterstr. 
Fleckenstein, Rob. E., 7-1 Tiefenhofe. 
Fritz, Pruppacher, 7 Waaggaste. 
Furer, Kurt, 197-8 Dufourstrasse. 
Geilinger, H. & Co., 13-1 Barengasse. 
Grossmann, A., 83-8 Seefelsdrstrasse. 
Hausamann, Emile, 14 Thalstrasse. 
Hegetschweiler, Hch., 58 Bleicherweg. 
Huber, Alb. J., 14 Fraumunsterstrasse. 
Kunz, Otto, 34-1 Limmatquai. 

Landolt, Rhyner & Cie, 11 Stadthausquai Metropol. 
Landolt, Rob., 40-2 Stockerstrasse. 
Landolt & Cie, 12 Thalstrasse. 
Matt, Gaston, 3-1 Ramistrasse. 
Meister, M., 10 Borsenstrasse. 
Muller, O., 28-2 Bleicherwegasse. 
Nabholtz & Co., 6-1 Annastr. 
Nussberger, A., 10-1 Peterstrasse. 
Pfister & Cie., 23-1 Thalacker. 



Raw Silk Firms 193 



Plattner, Jakob, 32-1 Thalacker. 
Pruppacher, F., 7-1 Waaggasse. 
Schneider, W., 8-1 Torgasse. 
Schnewlin, E., 19 Barengasse. 
Seeburger, E. & Co., 19 Pelikenstrassc. 
Sieber, Hegner & Cie., 14 Thalstrasse. 
Sigg, R., 6-7 Wilfriedstrasse. 
Spinner, E. & Cie., 52 Bahnhofstrasse. 
Spillmann, H., 13-1 Barengasse. 
Streuli, Emile H., 46-7 Minervastrasse. 
Sulzer, Rudolph & Co., 8 Fraumunsterstrasse. 
Trudel, E., 11-2 Bleicherwegasse. 
Vetter, A., 8-1 Leonhardstrasse. 
Wermann, R., 32-6 Rotelstrasse. 
Wettstein, Th., 49-1 Lowenstrasse. 
Zimmermann, Alfred, 57a-8 Bahnhofstrasse. 
Zollinger & Cie., 34-2 Dreikonigstrasse. 



ADVERTISEMENTS 



AMERICAN RAW SILK COMPANY 

(Incorporated) 

IMPORTERS 

25 MADISON AVENUE 
NEW YORK 



Geo. Walworth Middleton 

Telephone Madison Square 6531-6532 

Cable Address 

Geomid 



196 



MiNDLIN & ROSENMAN 

THROWN 
SILK 




TRADE MARK 



Silk, Artificial, Cotton 

Hosiery Tram 
Specialists 

Mills: Dunmore, Pa., Scranton, Pa., Long Island City, N.Y. 

105 EAST 29th STREET 
NEW YORK 



197 



United StatesTesting 
Company, Inc. 

340 HUDSON STREET 
NEW YORK CITY 

Paterson Philadelphia New Bedford Shana;hai, China 



General Textile Testing on 

Cotton, Wool, Silk, Linen and 

All Textile Materials 



Conditioning 


Uniformity 


Tests on 


Boil-off 


Count 


Dyestuffs 


Sizing 


Strength 


Chemicals 


Elasticity 


Twist 


Soaps 


Tenacity 


Wool Scouring 


Oils 


Cohesion 


Microscopy 


Fuels 


Cleanness 


Etc. 


Etc. 


Etc. 







Chemical analyses of materials and the in> 
vestigations of technical chemical problems 
are undertaken. 

Expert advice and assistance in the de- 
velopment of industrial processes will be 
furnished. 



198 



Societa Anonima Cooperativa 

(I capitale illirtiitato 

per la Stagionatura e I'Assaggio delle 
Sete ed Affini 

33, VIA MOSCOVA, MILAN (Italy) 

ESTABLISHED 1888 



Branch Offices in Milan: 38, via Moscova and 1 1 , via Ciovasso 



The largest concern in this line 

Won the highest awards at the Expositions of Paris 1900 

St. Louis 1904, Milan 1906, Turin 1911 



Amount of silk conditioned and weighed in 1919: 
4.487.294 kilograms— tested : N^ 87.394— boiled off: N° 
1.734 — net weighting of cocoons and silk waste: 3.630.020 
kilograms. 

Movement in the general w^arehouse expressly built 
for storage of silks, cocoons, silk waste and other tex- 
tile materials: 19.570.017 kilograms. Warrants issued to 
'the amount of 106.030.112 Lires. 

In addition to the usual Conditioning House tests, as 
conditioning, weighing, boiling off, sizing, measuring, 
tenacity, elasticity and twisting tests, our concern has 
annexed: 

Chemical Laboratory for all sort of researches and 
studies on silk, cocoons, etc.: in 1919, 2,867 analyses 
were accomplished from orders of the trade, especially 
to estimate the weighting in raw and thrown silks. 

Mechanical Factory for the turning out of instruments 
and appliances of precision in conditioning (Corti's 
Ovens, now adopted by all up-to-date Conditioning 
Houses), weighing, sizing, tenacity, elasticity and twist- 
ing tests. 

Banking Branch for collecting capital to be directly 
advanced on owm warrants. 

TERUZZI RAG. ANDREA, Manager 



199 



Telephones { §407 Madison Square 

F. STRAHLER & CO. 

OF JAPAN 

JAPAN RAW SILK 




AGENTS OF 

J. SAUVAYRE 

CANTON AND SHANGHAI 

Exporter of Raw Silks 
AND Shantung Piece Silks 



95 MADISON AVENUE 
NEW YORK 



200 



F. A. STRAUS & CO, 

451-453 FOURTH AVENUE 
NEW YORK CITY 




RAW, THROWN 
and ARTIFICIAL 

SILKS 



TSATLEE 

CHINA STEAM FILATURES 

TUSSAH 

CANTONS 

JAPANS 

MILLS, TRENTON, N. J. 



301 



A. P. Villa ^ Bros., Inc. 

Raw and Xnrown 




NEW YORK 

MILAN, TURIN, LYONS. YOKOHAMA. 
SHANGHAI CANTON 

New York Office: 

95 MADISON AVENUE 

Telephone: Madison Square 3200 

MILLS AT 

Passaic, N. J. Netcong, N. J. Mifflinturg, Pa. 
1 urDotville, Pa. Erwin, 1 enn. 



203 



Universal- Industrial 
Corporation 

354 FOURTH AVE. - NEW YORK 

Manufacturers of 

ORGANZINE TRAM 

and other 
TEXTILE YARNS 



Mills: 



MAYFIELD 

TOWANDA 

WATSONTOWN 

TRI-BOROUGH 

NEMOLOTON 

MONTOUR 

SEMINOLE 

COLONIAL 

NAMTRAH 



•llllllllllHinniiiiiM^ 

•'||||||||''H'.h::\, 



ONTIORA 

DALMATIA 

LIVERPOOL 

EYNON 

MILLVILLE 

NEW MILFORD 

DUNCANNON 

COLONIAL ANNEX 

DURYEA 






(Registered Trade Mark) 



203 



Vve GOERIH & FILS 

(Founded IfiSO) 

106 East 19th Street 
New York 



IMPORTERS OF 
ALL KINDS OF 

RAW SILKS 



From France, Italy, Orient, Bengal, Shanghai, 
Canton, Japan 



HEADQUARTERS 

LYONS (FRANCE) 

BRANCHES 

Paris, St. Etienne, (France) Milan, (Italy) 
Beyrouth, (Asia Minor) 



204 



^J/la/Jj42d on 



tJmnQ'i/e7A tine/ -j'ea/erd 



.S^Uaiic ana CjfM^o/m 



'leaM 




.yiam .yrf/t 



?o 'J/lac/(\iof/ C^i>enac, r/U'iO //at/' 



205 



S. A. WENGER, Pres. & Secy. JOHN SHIGO. 2nd Vice-Pres. 

JOHN E. BOLTON. Ist Vice-Pres. A. J. MAGAGNA. Treas. 



S. A. WENGER & CO. 



INC 



Importers of 

RAW SILK 

and Manufacturers of 

Thrown Silk 



95 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK 

Telephone Madison Square 
6466-6467-6468 



206 




g Twines 



J 



207 



Arnhold Brothers & Co. 

LIMITED 

CHINA 

Head Office: SHANGHAI 

BRANCHES: 

Hong Kong, Canton, Hankow, Chinkiang, Changsha, 

Chungking, Tientsin, Newchwang, 

Peking, etc. 



RAW SILK 

TUSSAHS, WASTE SILK 

PONGEES AND 

HABUTAIS 



P. DOURILLE & CO., Yokohama 



Agents and Home Offices: 

ARNHOLD BROTHERS 

LONDON: 14 Fenchurch St., E. C. 

NEW YORK: 21 State Street 

LYONS: L, CHERFILS & P. FAYOLLE, (5 Rue Pizayj 



208 



Japan 



GOSHO 
CORPORATION 

334 FOURTH AVENUE 
NEW YORK 

RAW 

SILK 

PIECE GOODS 

Representing 

GOSHO KABUSHIKI KAISHA 

OSAKA, SHANGHAI, YOKOHAMA 



China 



Telephooes MHS 



209 



(3918 
Telephone, Madison Squares .-cq 

TAKATA & CO. 



Established 1880 



432 Fourth Avenue, New York 

IMPORTERS, EXPORTERS 
MANUFACTURERS 




BRANCH OFFICES 
YOKOHAMA SHANGHAI 

LONDON SEATTLE PETROGRAD 



VLADIVOSTOCK PEKIN 

HANKOW DALNY 

TAIPEH OSAKA 

NAGOYA HAKODATE 

KURE MAIDZURU 

YOKOSUKA NAGASAKI 



TSINGTAN 

SEOUL 

KOBE 

MURORAN 

MOJI 

SASEBO 



210 



SUZDKI & COMPANY 

297 Fifth Avenue 
New York 

Telephone Longacre 5854 



RAW SILK 



ARTIFICIAL 
SILK 



211 




An illustrated monthly magazine devoted 
to the technical development and manu- 
facturing interests of the silk industry. 

Price \ $2.00 per year in U. S. 

( $3.00 foreign subscriptions 



THE SILK MARKET WEEKLY DIGEST 

Published ever]) Saturday 

A summary of the activities of the silk 
market and its various branches 



>rice I ^"^'^^ P®^ y®^** ''' ^* ^• 
) $6.00 fc 



foreign subscriptions 



^^^^ ^ $5.00 for one year in the United States 

DIGEST ^ 



Published by the 

SILK PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1123 BROADWAY 
NEW YORK 



212 



RAW SILK 



® 



HARA & CO. 

(Hara Gomei Kaisha) 

443 Fourth Avenue, New York 

Telephone, Madison Square 
8120, 8121, 8122, 8123 8124 



Branch Offices and Agencies: 

Lyons — London 

MAIN OFFICE: 

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN 



Owners and Sole Distributors of Well Known 

HARA FILATURES 



213 



Compliments of 

Leo L. Doblin Co. 

FACTORS 

AND COMMISSION 

MERCHANTS 




404 Fourth Avenue 
New York 



214 



John C. Welwood 
Corporation 

SILK RIBBONS 



ALSO 

SOLE SELLING AGENT 

FOR 

Welwood Silk Mills 

Broad Silks 

Hawley, Honesdale, White Mills, 

PENNSYLVANIA 

260-266 Fourth Avenue 
New York City 



215 



Dependability 

THE outstanding feature of Dunlop Organ- 
zine is its dependability. With QUALITY 
as our single objective for more than half 
a century our organization continues to devote 
itself to the maintenance of Dunlop Standards. 

Hard v^^orlc and close study have been devoted to 
the task of keeping ourproduct at all times up to 
the demands of discriminating manufacturers, 
and it is gratifying to know that our efforts are 
appreciated. 

We guarantee Dunlop Organzine to surpass any 
other Japanese Organzine in both quality and 
quantity of production, and v^e wWl gladly un- 
dertake to demonstrate, at our ow^n risk, the 
soundness of this claim. 




JNO. DUNLOP'S SONS 

Orga mine Sperui lists 

19 Madison Avenue 
New^ York 

Tel. Madison Sq. 9134 



U. S. Trust Co. Bldg. 
Paterson, N. J. 

Tel. Paterson 493.^ 



216 




iVlorimura, /Vrai & vjo. 

44 East 23rd Street, New York 



-Representing 



Yokohama 
Ki-ito Kwaisha, Ltd. 

JAPAN SHANGHAI CANTON 

RAW SILK 



